Live blog for a couple of hours as coverage begins with the close of the polls
BBC coverage:
http://www.bbc.com/...
#indyref
The latest research by Opinium, ICM and Survation all gave no the same slender lead of 52 per cent to 48 per cent. But the four-point advantage is close to the margin of error for such surveys - raising the prospect of a nail-biting final push in which every ballot could make the difference.
The concept of democratic political participation may be the big winner here with higher than usual turnout with the benefit of three years of campaigning. The first ballot boxes begin to arrive, some delayed by fogged-in airport runways from the far reaches of Scotland. Postal ballots could be the key as well as the ability of 16 year-old Scots to vote. "No" has generally tended to poll ahead with a variety of scaremongering tactics and other concessions made by the measure's combatants. The key mover, the SNP may see its power also consolidated by such voting as will the potential to bring down David Cameron's government. The final results may not be available until breakfast time GMT, so it could be Zero Dark Thirty for the British Tories regardless. The results could however, be clear as early as 10pm ET in the US. Much speculation about the hypotheticals: Scottish currency, EU membership, British nuclear sub basing in Scotland made complicated by its leasing from the US, and various employment effects. With 77% usual turnout, the voting has even higher participation even aside from the postal and youth voting. Interested onlookers include Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Ukraine. All Glasgow ballot boxes have arrived at the counting center (yougov's pollster indicates that the vote needs to be close there in order for yes to win). Edinburgh has had 90% of its postal votes turned in. Chances are Scotland will be neither "Cold-Water Cuba" nor "North Atlantic Singapore" with this vote and
Devo-Max will be the dominant sign of Scottish governance.
"Scotland had oil, but it's running out thanks to all that deep frying." – Scott Capurro
Harry Potter author J K Rowling was subjected to obscene online abuse from so-called 'cybernats' earlier this year after donating £1million to the No campaign.
She was labelled a 'specky b****', a 'Union cow bag' and a 'disgrace' by fervent nationalists.
Channel 4 News is including WhatsApp and Snapchat updates in its coverage of the Scottish Independence Referendum, using the platforms to distribute some of the latest news before publishing it elsewhere online.
Jennifer Rigby, social media and special projects producer at Channel 4 (C4) News, told Journalism.co.uk she wanted to "do something distinctive and Channel 4 Newsy".
“We started thinking about what we could do overnight on Thursday for the independence referendum, particularly with a team that's smaller than our rivals who've got 24 hour news operations,” she said.
Part of the aim, Rigby added, was to engage young people who might be voting for the first time, by considering "where they are online and digitally, what apps they're using... where they're interacting, where they get their news".
Channel 4's newly launched WhatsApp and Snapchat accounts are also an experiment to see if people want to receive news on apps they traditionally use to communicate with their friends, she added.
8:12 PM PT: 50.1% = no 49.9% = yes @ 9/32 declared; No is still strong but the largest cities not yet reported
9:32 PM PT: BBC has just called it for "No" = 55% to "Yes" = 45%