What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about 2014 Scottish independence referendum, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor
154 postsGlasgow voter turnout is reported at 75%. The city is considered a Yes stronghold due to the large working-class vote, but Unionist sources say they may have still lost the area much lower despite a much lower turnout than in other areas that have already reported.
Observers from both campaigns at the count for rural Aberdeenshire, held in the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, watch election officials unfold and stack up the ballot papers from particular polling stations to check the number of ballot papers matches the number of votes, and tally up a rough indication of how the vote went in those areas. The observers have been out on the ground and will have an idea of what to expect from each area, so they can measure their rough counts against what they might have expected from a certain village. The process is for a sample indication.
The first local total announced is Clackmannashire – the result shows No wins with 19,036 votes or 54%, while Yes has 16,350 votes, or 46%.
The national counting center in Edinburgh reports voter turnout in the first two local council areas. In Orkney, turnout is 84% and in Clackmannashire it is 89%.
The Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser leads a campaign for an independent council for the Surrey commuter town of Dorking:
While the decision will not have the same long-lasting effects as the vote on Scottish independence, councillors, business leaders and leading community figures could soon ask townsfolk if they would be in favour of establishing a new council to bring more powers to a local level.
Counting begins of ballot papers by the 5,767-strong national counting team and the total will be reported to national chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly, who will approve the local counting officer in each of the 32 local authorities across Scotland to announce the turnout. Papers will be sorted into Yes, No and doubtful, which will need to be judged and may have to be discarded. The results will be declared in each individual counting area and when all the totals are in, Pitcaithly will announce the final result.
Polls shut across the country at 10 p.m. local time (5 p.m. EDT) and ballot boxes begin to be delivered to counting centers Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
Cameron says the referendum is the ‘settled will’ of the Scottish public:
I am a passionate believer in our United Kingdom – I wanted more than anything for our United Kingdom to stay together. But I am also a democrat. And it was right that we respected the SNP’s majority in Holyrood and gave the Scottish people their right to have their say. Let us also remember why it was right to ask the definitive question, Yes or No. Because now the debate has been settled for a generation or as Alex Salmond has said, perhaps for a lifetime. So there can be no disputes, no re-runs – we have heard the settled will of the Scottish people.
He congratulates both sides:
Scotland voted for a stronger Scottish Parliament backed by the strength and security of the United Kingdom and I want to congratulate the No campaign for that – for showing people that our nations really are better together. I also want to pay tribute to Yes Scotland for a well-fought campaign and to say to all those who did vote for independence: ‘we hear you’.
He promises broader powers for the Scottish parliament in Holyrood as well as for Wales and Northern Ireland, and says England should also be a part of that debate:
The question of English votes for English laws – the so-called West Lothian question – requires a decisive answer. So, just as Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on their issues of tax, spending and welfare so too England, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland, should be able to vote on these issues and all this must take place in tandem with, and at the same pace as, the settlement for Scotland.
Scottish voters reject independence by a margin of 55% to 45%. With the results in from all 32 council areas, the No side wins with 2,001,926 votes compared with 1,617,989 for Yes.
YouGov publishes its final poll on the referendum, re-contacting 1,828 voters who had participated in a previous poll earlier in the week after they have left the polling booth and assessing 800 people who have already voted by post. It places the No campaign ahead of Yes by 54% to 46%. 10% of No voters say they have encountered Yes voters acting unreasonably at the polling booths, while 5% of Yes voters say the same about No voters.
The Yes campaign says that it is hoping for more than 45% in the referendum:
Anything above 45% for Yes would be a "good result" according to the Yes campaign. #indyref
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) September 19, 2014
Polling stations at 2,608 schools and halls across Scotland open at 7 a.m. local time (2 a.m. EDT) for voting.
Salmond concedes the referendum as the ‘democratic verdict of the people of Scotland’ in a speech at 6.15 a.m. UK time, seven minutes after the count becomes a mathematical certainty for the No vote:
Today of all days as we bring Scotland together, let us not dwell on the distance we have fallen short, let us dwell on the distance we have travelled and have confidence the movement is abroad in Scotland that will take this nation forward and we shall go forward as one nation.
He calls on pro-UK parties to deliver on their promises to devolve more powers to Scotland:
Scotland will expect these to be honoured in rapid course – as a reminder, we have been promised a second reading of a Scotland Bill by March 27 next year. Not just the 1.6 million Scots who voted for independence will demand that timetable is followed but all Scots who participated in this referendum will demand that timetable is followed.
The result is confirmed as a mathematical certainty at 6:08 a.m. UK time (1:08 a.m. EDT) as the chief counting officer in Fife county announces the district votes No. Fife voters vote against independence 55% to 45%. The turnout is 84% of the area’s 302,165 electorate.
McAvoy avoids taking a side but warns of making permanent decisions based on political agendas:
I don’t trust politicians at all, and I don’t really think that actors, i.e. professional liars, are the best people to be commenting and to be backing up other professional liars, i.e. politicians. I’ll go with my country no matter what way they vote, I just hope that my country follows its heart and its gut rather than listening to redundant political debate. If you vote one way or another because you believe in some political promise, five or 10 years from now it’s going to be a new guy in that chair with a different political agenda — and you have voted to change your country forever because of a semi-permanent promise made by some guy who may or may not deliver.
Branson tells 5 News that he would love to endorse Scottish independence, but the uncertainty for Scotland and the UK is too great:
The rogue in me would love to say yes but the pragmatic entrepreneur has looked at [it] and I firmly believe Scottish people should remain part of the UK but have a lot more powers devolved to them
A big risk is higher taxes choking any benefit from independent economic policies to create jobs:
There is enormous wealth pouring into Britain from overseas, a lot of great businesses setting up… and a lot of those tax benefits will not be forthcoming to Scotland. My wife is from Glasgow, my mother is from Edinburgh, they both said if we had done it 30 years ago they would have voted yes. But it’s doing it near the end of the oil flows and there’s just not enough assets for Scotland to fall back on.
Market research firm Ipsos MORI says the approximately 10% of voters that have consistently said in polls that they are undecided on independence shouldn’t present a challenge to the survey providers – when questioned on which way they are leaning, they split down the middle and move the outcome by less than 0.1 point. A bigger challenge is whether one side’s supporters are more likely to turn out than the other’s – the younger, working-class demographic of Yes voters would usually be more susceptible to not showing up on the day, but the grassroots campaign and once-in-a-lifetime nature of the referendum mean turnout may well be in line with expectations. Finally, it says that some No voters may be refusing to participate in surveys – however this would result in a larger-than-expected No vote.
A Guardian-operated website at AreTheScotsIndependentYet.com promises to keep readers updated on the result. The site currently includes an animated map and text:
No
The final Panelbase poll before the referendum shows that the No campaign is leading by 52% compared with 48% for Yes. This excludes undecided voters, who make up 5%. Panelbase:
We asked undecided voters to imagine that they were standing in the polling booth, and slightly more said they would vote No than Yes. Adding them to the original decided totals produces a result of Yes 47%, No 53%.
In supplementary poll questions, 35% say they believe Yes is likely to win, an increase of 7 points, and 40% believe it will be No, a decrease of 15 points:
It seems likely that this result will have been influenced by a general tightening of poll results.
McGregor says independence is not worth breaking up the union:
I’m a Scotsman and I love Scotland with all my heart. But I also like the idea of Great Britain, and I don’t know that it wouldn’t be a terrible shame to break it all up.
