Voting underway in Scotland’s independence referendumSeptember 18, 2014 - 10:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - People in Scotland have begun voting on whether the country should stay in the UK or become an independent nation, BBC News reported. Voters will answer "Yes" or "No" to the referendum question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" With 4,285,323 people - 97% of the electorate - registered to vote, a historically high turnout is expected. Votes will be cast at 2,608 polling places across the country until 22:00 on Thursday, Sept 19. The result is expected early on Friday morning. Ballot papers will be counted in each of Scotland's 32 local authority areas. These will include votes cast from the 789,024 postal vote applications, which was the largest volume of registration for postal votes ever in Scotland. Because of the expected high turnout, counting officers have put measures in place to reduce the risk of queuing at polling stations. The remote nature of some Scottish regions also means bad weather could delay the receipt of ballot boxes at counting centres, in turn delaying the national result. Helicopters and boats are being used to transport ballot boxes to counts in areas such as Argyll and Bute. Elections Scotland said recounts will only be allowed at a local level on the basis of concerns about process, not the closeness of a result. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |