when will we get some news on the Scottish vote?

[CTyankee]

Do they do exit polling there?

[sharp_stick]

1. They suggested

that results would be in around breakfast time Friday so I'd say around 3 or 4 Friday AM Eastern Time.

[LittleBlue]

2. According to the Guardian, no one paid for an exit poll

[FSogol]

4. Probably too close to tell anyway. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Not easy to do an accurate exit poll on a referendum with a new question

You don't have a decent idea of the 'typical' polling stations, unlike elections where there's previous form to look at. You'd have to pay for an awful lot of pollsters all over the place. And then, given the closeness of the pre-election polls, there's a high likelihood it would say "too close to call". Or you can just wait a few hours, and save the money.

[Xithras]

17. Because they are legally banned from reporting exit polls until the polls close.

The UK, like many nations, prohibits broadcasters from discussing political issues on election days. No political commercials, no interviewing people, no live exit polls. Anything that can potentially sway the vote is banned in the media.

Exit polls would allow an earlier glimpse into the results after the polls closed (when the law permits them to start discussing those details again), but that's a rather small benefit at a rather large cost.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. There has, however, been an internet post-voting poll: 54% No, 46% Yes

YouGov predicts that No has won Scotland’s referendum with 54% of the vote

YouGov bases its prediction on the responses of 1,828 people after they voted today, together with those of 800 people who had already voted by post. Today’s respondents had previously given their voting intention earlier this week. By recontacting them, we could assess any last-minute shift in views. Today’s responses indicate that there has been a small shift on the day from Yes to No, and also that No supporters were slightly more likely to turn out to vote.

http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/09/18/yougov-referendum-prediction/

[FSogol]

3. Polls close at 10 pm Scottish time (5 pm EST).

They are hand counted, so don't expect a good number until Friday morning.

America should learn from the 15 hour voting period.

[randome]

5. And do it better. An entire week should be good.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[FSogol]

6. Not sure a week of voting would be that good due to human nature.

Most people would wait until the last day or two anyway and the long last-minute lines would discourage the uncaring.

[fizzgig]

10. you don't think early voting is good?

we have two weeks of it here in colorado in addition to everyone getting mail-in ballots. lines here on election day are rarely very long in my city.

[FSogol]

11. I think early voting is awesome, but a week long election "day" seems to be draging it on too long.

[fizzgig]

12. gotcha

still on my first cup of coffee.

[Old Codger]

9. best way to vote

By mail like Washington and Oregon do.. gives you a couple of weeks to really study actual ballot and then mail it in. Works great.

[Kablooie]

7. I think by law media can only report facts on polling day.

They can't cover campaigning or speculations because it might affect the result.
I think they are right. Here the media always anticipates who will win and it does affect how people vote later in the day.

The last poll yesterday predicted the vote for independence wouldn't pass.

[sibelian]

13. Delcarations by region begin 2:00am Friday GMT

Last result expected by 6:00am Friday GMT.

WILDLY varying predictions abound here in the land of haggis and heather...

[CTyankee]

14. Oh, now you have me singing tunes from "Brigadoon"...

The Heather on the Hill is one of my favorites...whatta great show that is...

[Denzil_DC]

15. The Guardian has a liveblog on it

Here: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2014/sep/18/scottish-independence-referendum-polling-day-live

It's probably the easiest way to keep abreast of what's happening if you don't want to be glued to the BBC.

The overall results are likely to be announced around 7 a.m. GMT, so you've got quite a wait. There are likely to be some indications from regional results before then, but this is unlike any other poll that's ever been held in Scotland in terms of turnout (100% in Falkirk, where they've already closed down one polling place because everybody registered had already voted; it was 40% in my small village by lunchtime - we're lucky to get 40% total in most elections), so predictions are very difficult.

[CTyankee]

16. So itmight take a while to tally it all up?

I'm getting more and more interested in this vote...it is certainly a huge historical event...

[Denzil_DC]

18. Correction:

The Guardian now reports that Twitter rumors about that Falkirk polling station closing early are false. Nevertheless, turnout is very high across the board.

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. Results are supposedly due between 0630 and 0730 BST

that's 0130-0230 EDT and 2230-2330 on the US West Coast.

[Denzil_DC]

20. The Guardian now has a results liveblog:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/scottish-independence-blog/live/2014/sep/18/scottish-referendum-results-live-coverage-of-the-independence-vote