EDINBURGH, Scotland — The polls have closed and vote counting is underway in Scotland's historic referendum on whether to end the country's 307-year-old union with England.
Polling places reported a heavy turnout Thursday. More than 4.2 million people were registered to vote — 97 percent of those eligible.
As soon as the polls closed, vote counting began at 32 regional centers across Scotland. The final result on the independence vote is expected sometime after midnight Friday central time.
A vote for independence will trigger 18 months of negotiations on how the two countries will separate their institutions before Scotland's planned Independence Day on March 24, 2016.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
IN TODAY'S EDITIONS
- http://www.arkansas…">Passionate pleas mark eve of vote in Scotland