#PoliticalArena Scotlands independence vote begins, voters divide On a damp and foggy morning, early birds of the historic Scottish independence referendum voters on Thursday came to a polling station in northwest Edinburgh to escape the queue and save time. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. British Summer Time, ballots for the choice of Yes or No would be cast at polling stations in 32 local authorities across Scotland, with a predicted turnout of 88 percent. After voting, Mike Gray, with a No sign sticker on each side of his smart suits collar, told Xinhua that he expected the outcome of the referendum will be a narrow win for the Better Together campaign, and more powers are expected to be delivered to the devolved Scottish parliament. A middle-aged couple, who voted together with their teenage girl, said, we are Yes voters as we would like to vote for the government of our own choice. We didnt vote for the Westminster government. This is the first Scottish independence referendum in Britains history and official figures showed that about 97 percent of those eligible to vote in Scotland signed up to vote in the referendum, which is set to be the biggest poll in Scotlands history. Expected to be announced at around 6.30 a.m.- 7.30 a.m. on Friday morning local time at the earliest, the final result of the referendum is too close to call, according to the latest polls. If a simple majority of Scots vote for independence, Scotland would become independent on March 24, 2016 after a period of negotiations with the rest of Britain, according to the whitepaper Scotlands Future published by the Scottish government on Nov. 26, 2013. If the No campaign wins, British Prime Minister David Cameron, leader of the Conservative, Labor Party Leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, offered more powers for Scotland starting on Sept. 19. In October 2012, Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, leader of the ruling Scottish National Party, signed the Edinburgh Agreement, allowing Scotland to hold an independence referendum in autumn 2014. It is also the third referendum for Scotland after the two previous ones held respectively in 1979 and 1997 on Scottish devolution. The referendum in 1979 failed to gain the mandatory 40 percent of the electorate, while the latter succeeded with an overwhelming majority of voters backing devolution. As a devolved legislature, the Scottish parliament was reconvened in 1999 with authorities over some limited areas of home affairs, and the parliament of the United Kingdom keeps reserved powers including the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish parliament.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 10:51:21 +0000
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