LONDON (SW): Voting is underway in the UK for the landmark referendum on whether to leave or stay in the European Union.
Polls have opened in a historic referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the European Union or leave. An estimated 46,499,537 people are entitled to take part in the vote – a record number for a UK poll. Polling stations opened at 07:00 BST and will close at 22:00 BST.
According to the BBC, it is only the third nationwide referendum in UK history and comes after a four-month battle for votes between the Leave and Remain campaigns.
After the referendum polls close, sealed ballot boxes will be collected and transported to the count venue for each of the 382 local counting areas. These represent all 380 local government areas in England, Scotland and Wales, plus one each for Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
The vote pits the Remain campaign, backed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, against the Leave camp, led by the former London mayor, Conservative MP Boris Johnson.
The Remain camp has said a British exit would be hugely destabilising in terms of security and the economy. Supporters of the Leave campaign argue that a Brexit would be for the best; much of its campaign focused on tighter border controls and freedom from EU regulations on immigration and the economy.
Al-Jazeera has reported that one of the most contentious posters of the campaign was one published by the anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP), showing a long queue of refugees under the headline "Breaking Point".
The EU was created after the Second World War as an antidote to the nationalism, which had devastated the continent. The movement for unity was led by France and Germany, it noted.
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