Scottish referendum: How the historic day is expected to unfold

Today (September 18) will mark an historic day in Scotland as Scots will decide if the country is to become independent or remain a part of the United Kingdom (UK).

In the past few weeks, campaigns for and against Scotland’s independence have dominated the headlines, and today, Scotland will decide its fate – it is either yes or no.

Here is how the epoch-making day unfolded (All times in the UK time):

7:00am: Polling stations around Scotland open. There are 4.2million people registered to vote, which amounts to 97% of the electorate.

10:00am: Polls close. Ballot boxes are sealed and sent to 32 counts.
Results from each centre will be sent to the chief counting officer at the Royal Highland Centre, in Ingliston, near Edinburgh, for verification and official announcement.

Tomorrow (September 19): counting begins 2:00am: Declarations begin with the smaller population centres expected to declare first and cities around 5am. Bad weather may delay counts.
Eilean Siar, North Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, Orkney, East Lothian, and Perth & Kinross and Moray. Total voters 660,144 or 15.1% of the electorate.

2:30am: Clackmannanshire expected to declare. Total voters 42,109 (1% of the electorate).

3:00am: Dumfries & Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, Aberdeenshire, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire, Angus, Dundee City.
Total voters 1,403,985 (32.1% of the electorate). Nearly half the votes will have been counted at this point in the evening.

3:30am: Midlothian, Shetland, South Ayrshire, Argyll, West Lothian, East Dunbartonshire. Total voters 480,407 (11.0% of the electorate)

4:00am: Fife and Highland. Total voters 491,535 (11.2% of electorate)

4:30am: North Ayrshire. Total voters 113,663 (2.6% of the electorate).

5:00am: Scottish Borders, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Total votes 996,571 (22.8% of the electorate).

This will be the key time in the vote as nearly a quarter of the total votes will be announced, making the result much clearer.

6:00am: Aberdeen. Total votes 190,658 (4.4% of the electorate)

6:30am: Chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly says she will officially announce the result at “breakfast time.”