No prosecutions after Scottish referendum postal vote investigation

Nobody will be prosecuted in connection with the year-long criminal investigation into allegations pro-Union campaigners breached electoral secrecy laws by counting postal votes ahead of the Scottish independence referendum polling day…

A Police Scotland probe into claims of electoral fraud were sparked by live TV comments made by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson that postal vote “tallies” were being taken in the weeks before the ballot closed at 10pm on September 18, last year.

Now the Crown Office has confirmed that the matter for them is “now closed” after Police Scotland said they “do not intend” to report any individuals as “no criminality has been uncovered”…

On televised coverage of the referendum results, 45 minutes after the polls closed, Ms Davidson said that the Better Together camp had been “incredibly encouraged” by the results of a “sample opening” of the postal ballot that she said had taken place around the country over the few weeks prior to the poll. [The Herald]