The calm waters surrounding this ‘No Thanks’ message posted on a rock in Loch Long belied a turbulent day in Scotland which saw the campaign for independence defeated.
The day started with long queues at some polling stations – the turnout across Argyll and Bute was 88.2% – and ended with a long wait until it became clear at about 5am that Scotland would vote No by a slightly higher margin than predicted in the most recent opinion polls.
In Argyll and Bute the result was announced just before 6am – 37,143 voted No (58.5%) and just 26,324 voted Yes.
A total of 49 votes were rejected for a number of reasons. None were rejected due to lack of an official mark, but nine were rejected for voting in favour of both answers; one included writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified and 39 were unmarked or void for certainty.
Alongside postal votes and proxies, votes made their way across Argyll and Bute in ballot boxes transported by car, boat, and helicopter to be counted at Lochgilphead Joint Campus.
Counting Officer Sally Loudon said: “Argyll and Bute’s diverse geography means we have to consider the logistics of a major count very carefully.
“We have a very experienced team who are well used to organising the transportation of ballot boxes by air, land and sea. The knowledge of our counting staff is backed up by careful planning and a well-established process.
“Everything went extremely smoothly despite the unique challenges involved in administering a count on this scale. I would like to thank everyone involved for ensuring that Argyll and Bute’s referendum count went so well.”
You may also want to print before and after photographs of the appalling vandalism daubed across the painted rock on Cove Bay shore – rock paintings drawn by local primary school children and developed by local artists defaced by a political slogan – I have photographs of both sides of the rock taken the day before the referendum evening vandalism if you need some what it looked like before images – If it needs a fundraiser to put this right, we should do that