Scotland will remain part of the United Kingdom -- along with England, Wales and Northern Ireland -- following a historic referendum vote. A majority of voters rejected the possibility of Scotland breaking away and becoming an independent nation.
With 31 of 32 councils declared, the "No" campaign has won the referendum on Scottish independence.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond admitted defeat in Scotland's independence referendum Friday -- and urged the rest of Scotland to do the same.
In a televised statement, he thanked Scotland "for 1.6 million votes for Scottish independence."A turnout of 86% is one of the highest in the democratic world for any such vote, he said.
Voters in Scotland made their choice Thursday -- remain part of the United Kingdom, or form their own independent nation. They chose to remain.
With 31 of 32 of councils reporting, the "No" campaign had garnered enough votes to secure their victory, and with it Scotland's continued place within the union.
The first councils to declare all went to the "No" campaign, as did the capital, Edinburgh, which voted overwhelmingly to stay in the union with 123,927 for "Yes" and 194,628 "No" votes. Argyll and Bute and Aberdeenshire also voted "No."
Glasgow delivered a solid win for the independence camp with 194,779 votes for "Yes," and 169,347 for "No," but lead was not big enough to overturn the "No" camp's overall majority so far, which maintains a 8% (54% to 46%) lead over pro-independence camp.
The majority of the early results have been going the anti-independence camp's way. The "No" campaign extended lead with Angus and East Dunbartonshire council results, alongside a landslide in Dumfries and Galloway. The oil-rich city of Aberdeen also strongly voted for the unionist camp.
The city of Dundee was the first big gain for the independence campaign, voting "Yes" with 53,620 votes for, 39,880 against.
The individual counts by local authorities are ultimately immaterial as it is the total number of votes countrywide that will determine the outcome.
Polls at more than 5,500 stations across all districts, from the remote highlands and islands to the big cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, closed at 10 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET). People still in line to vote at that time were allowed to cast ballots.
High turnout
The first districts to report turnout reported high participation -- well over 80% in most cases -- Mary Pitcaithly, chief counting officer, announced in Edinburgh.
Turnout in Glasgow, one of the Yes campaign's heartlands, was a relatively disappointing 75%.
More than 4.2 million people registered to vote on the question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
Decision day for Scotland Expert: 'Yes' would humiliate Cameron Scotland votes: See the TV ads
Photos: Scotland votes
A vote for independence would mean Scotland, with its population of about 5.3 million, splits from the rest of the United Kingdom, made up of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in addition to Scotland.
"The people of Scotland have engaged in this conversation," Phil MacHugh, a spokesman for the "Yes" camp, told CNN on Thursday night. "They have really gone out there, found out the information that they wanted to know, and made that choice today."
No comments:
Post a Comment