How to Follow Scotland’s Referendum from America
found this on the guardian’s live blog of the referendum:
Are you reading this from America? *waves*
If so, welcome. And here’s a guide written especially for you from the Guardian’s New York office on the best ways to follow the referendum - voting and counting. Obviously its first recommendation is this liveblog. But have a read of it anyway, then come straight back.
The Guardian’s live blog is here: theguardian.com
The result is not expected to be firm until around sunrise in Scotland (after midnight in the USA), but there should be some interesting results trickling out hours earlier, as various districts report in (more than 5,500 polling stations in 32 districts in Scotland will be open from 7am until 10pm local time - 2am-5pm ET).
In the US, C-SPAN will be simulcasting BBC coverage of the referendum, with Huw Edwards hosting, beginning at 5.35pm ET. Recommended.
——————————————————————————-
UPDATE 1: 20.00BST: from the guardian My colleague Mark Tran has compiled this handy walk-through of the next, crucial hours. Here’s the most crucial of the crucial bits:
First results are due between 1.30am and 2am BST on Friday 19 September. The remote Orkney Islands – which has the smallest electorate, with 17,515 registered voters – are expected to be the first to declare. Most of the results should come through between 3am and 5am.
Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen – home to about 25% of registered voters – will be the last three councils to announce results, between 5am and 6am.
The councils will report results to Mary Pitcaithly, the chief counting officer, at the Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston, near Edinburgh. Pitcaithly is expected to announce the final result between 6.30am and 7.30am.
British prime minister David Cameron will make a televised address shortly after the results are declared to try to calm the atmosphere whatever the result.