--- description: Russian voting-rights observers took issue with vote counting title: Russia Says Scottish Referendum Could Have Been Rigged image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt335d661eedaecc30/6986a487169ab007c327b4c4/scotland-referndum.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Scotland](/tag/scotland/) ## Scotland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russia Says Scottish Referendum Could Have Been Rigged  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 21, 2014 2:51 PM CUT  Dejected Yes supporters in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sept. 19, 2014. Dejected Yes supporters in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sept. 19, 2014.Robert Perry—EPA  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 21, 2014 2:51 PM CUT Scotland’s historic election on independence [did not meet international standards](http://ria.ru/world/20140919/1024703912.html "undefined") for constitutional referendums, the head of a Russian voting rights organization has said, with procedures that left the result subject to rigging and vote-tampering. Igor Borisov, [chairman of the Public Institute of Suffrage](http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/19/russia-calls-foul-scottish-referendum "undefined") in Moscow (also translated as the Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law), said the voting took place according to United Kingdom voting rules, which differ from the international community’s accepted procedures for such votes, Russian news agency Ria Novosti reports. The unusual criticism comes just months after the international community [rejected](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/16/us-ukraine-crisis-usa-idUSBREA2F0L420140316 "undefined") the results of a [referendum](http://time.com/26691/crimean-vote-winners-and-losers/ "undefined") in Crimea. The White House said the March ballot had been “administered under threats of violence and intimidation from a Russian military intervention that violates international law.” Borisov said the chief concern in Scotland was the counting of the votes, which he alleges was not secure and was open to potential voter fraud and rigging. Borisov noted that the vote-counting room was the size of an “aircraft hangar,” which opened up the democratic process to tampering. “Even if you want to, it’s impossible to tell what’s happening,” he said. “It’s also unclear where the boxes with ballot papers come from.” \[[_Ria Novosti_](http://ria.ru/world/20140919/1024703912.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3414430/russia-scotland-independence-referendum/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3414430/russia-scotland-independence-referendum/"},"headline":"Russia Says Scottish Referendum Could Have Been Rigged","datePublished":"2014-09-21T14:51:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:19:22.113Z","description":"They should know","url":"https://time.com/3414430/russia-scotland-independence-referendum/","keywords":["Scotland","russia","Scottish Independence","United Kingdom","Scotland topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt335d661eedaecc30/6986a487169ab007c327b4c4/scotland-referndum.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt335d661eedaecc30/6986a487169ab007c327b4c4/scotland-referndum.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Scottish Independence Referendum 2014","caption":"Scottish Independence Referendum 2014","creditText":"Robert Perry—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/scotland/","name":"Scotland"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3414430/russia-scotland-independence-referendum/","name":"Russia Says Scottish Referendum Could Have Been Rigged"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Scotland Votes ‘No,’ Won’t Split from U.K.","description":"After months of heated public debate that had Britons and many world leaders worried, Scotland has voted to remain a part of the United Kingdom.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/M7Od3995/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-19T10:22:33.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/M7Od3995.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3414430/russia-scotland-independence-referendum/","duration":"PT1M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3414430/russia-scotland-independence-referendum/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```