How can Scotland be taken seriously as a modern European country if it takes seven hours to report results? I mean, really.
Uhh, because Scotland doesn't want to be an international laughing stock like Florida in 2000 ?
And because the ballots are not counted locally, but first are sealed and transported to the local authority offices where they'll be counted (carefully, which means the vote tally and especially the absentee ballots will need to be protocollized and everything).
Better the counting takes longer and is accurate, rather than doing it US-style where there are no clear counting guidelines as to when a ballot is valid/not, ballots added weeks and months after an election and recounts which are disputed ...
