With One Day Left, Scottish Vote Still Too Close To Call

Will the ayes have it, or will Scotland say naw thanks?

No one is certain. Excitement and anxiety mount across the country today, the final day of campaigning before Thursday's referendum on independence.

With opinion polls suggesting the result is too close to call and turnout expected to reach record levels, supporters of separation feel they are within touching distance of victory - but wonder whether their surge in the polls will be enough.

Scottish voters who want to stay in the United Kingdom along with Britain, Wales and Northern Ireland fear the nation they live in may soon cease to exist.

The battle for Scotland has all the trappings of a normal election campaign: "Yes Scotland" and "No, Thanks" posters in windows, buttons on jackets, leaflets on street corners and megaphone-topped campaign cars cruising the streets.

But it is, both sides acknowledge, a once-in-a-generation - maybe once-in-a-lifetime - choice that could redraw the map of the United Kingdom.

The gravity of the imminent decision was hitting home for many voters as political leaders made passionate, final pleas for their sides. More than 4.2 million people are registered to vote, 97 percent of the eligible electorate.

NPR's London correspondent Ari Shapiro is in Edinburgh and joins Here & Now's Robin Young to describe the mood there.