Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition - published on the campaign website Change.org - demanding a recount in last week’s Scottish independence referendum, citing “countless evidences of fraud.”
The controversy mostly stems from viral videos that allegedly show that “yes” votes were deliberately put into the “no” pile while officials were tallying results. Another widely circulated photograph from the Scottish community of Clackmannanshire appears to show a “yes” ballot bundled with others, sitting in the “no” pile.
Official results showed that voters rejected Scotland’s bid for independence from Britain by a percentage of 55 to 45.
In addition to the purported ballot irregularities, critics of the voting have said that “strange occurrences with dual fire alarms” also affected some voting centers, and also cited “clear cut fraud in Glasgow.”
Another piece of evidence presented by critics of the referendum is footage they claim shows a counting officer in Edinburgh writing on a ballot paper.
In a statement, chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly addressed the fraud allegations.
She stated that she was “satisfied that all counts throughout Scotland were properly conducted and scrutinized by thousands of people representing both the Yes Scotland and the Better Together campaigns, as well as international election observers, media and police. None of these people raised any concerns during the verification, counting and adjudication stages.”
In addition to the allegations of fraud, the leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond, has raised the prospect of Scotland unilaterally declaring independence without another referendum, despite his earlier promises to accept the results. Salmond has said he believes voters were “gulled” and “tricked” during the independence campaign.
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