Scotland votes on independence

Sep 18, 2014 | News

By Casey Taylor

“Should Scotland be an independent country?”

That’s the question Scots are trying to answer Thursday.

Voting is underway in a historic referendum that could see the dissolution of their union with the United Kingdom.

Public support initially leaned towards keeping the status quo when polls first started reporting last year but soon began to see independence as a valid alternative.

Polling data leading into today’s vote showed Scots were almost evenly split on the decision with a slight edge towards unity.

A simple majority is all that’s required for victory.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has been on a whirlwind tour of late making one final push for Scotland to vote “No” describing the potential split a “painful divorce.”

Gordon Brown, a former British prime minister, was also out campaigning in favor of the No side.

Despite these and other pleas for continued unity, early Twitter reactions did not show the message struck a cord.

Other early voting reactions, however, suggested there was also real passion on the No side.

Elections Scotland says there are about 4.2 million registered voters representing 97 per cent of the electorate.

Polls close at 10 P.M. local time with ballots counted overnight and expected declaration by Friday morning.