Election Watchdog Simplifies Question in Scots Independence Vote

Voters in Scotland will be asked “yes or no” to whether the country should be independent in next year’s referendum after the Electoral Commission recommended simplifying the question to ensure neutrality.

The proposal from the U.K. election watchdog differs from the one put forward last year by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who wanted to ask voters whether they “agreed” that Scotland should be independent. The two main groups campaigning for and against independence also should be allowed to spend 1.5 million pounds ($2.37 million) each in the 16 weeks before the vote, the Commission said in an e-mailed statement today.