LONDON, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - First ballot boxes have started to arrive from polling stations across Scotland, a returning officer told RIA Novosti.
"First ballots have already come in, they are being processed. We expect the first results from some areas to appear between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time [1:00 and 3:00 GMT]. The first totals on the Scottish vote are due to be announced approximately after 6:30 local time," the counting officer at Ingliston told RIA Novosti in a phone comment.
At 10 a.m., referendum polls closed at 5,579 voting stations in 32 councils across Scotland, with official results expected to be announced between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. local time on Friday.
Each of the 32 councils will report local results to Chief Counting Officer Mary Pitcaithly at the Royal Highland Center at Ingliston near Edinburgh, although first results are expected to come in tonight, with the biggest bulk of running totals appearing between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, which account for 25 percent of Scotland's population, will be the last three areas to report on their voting results.
On Thursday, people in Scotland were voting in the historical independence referendum. Voters were given a ballot paper with the question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" with the "Yes" or "No" options.
If the majority of Scots votes "yes" in the referendum, then on March 24, 2016, Scotland will become independent from the United Kingdom.
