<p>Three new opinion polls published Wednesday have shown a slight lead for the "no" vote on Scottish independence.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Meanwhile, politicians from both sides made last minute appeals before Thursday's referendum seeking to convince those who have not yet made up their minds.<br /><br />The polls by Opinium for the British newspaper Daily Telegraph, ICM for the Scottish newspaper The Scotsman, and Sarvation for Daily Mail showed that the anti-independence votes were slightly ahead of the "yes" votes for splitting from Britain.<br />Excluding undecided voters, 52 percent of those questioned said they would vote "no" to independence while 48 percent said they would vote "yes".<br /><br />The independence debate has intensified, especially after opinion survey results released in early July gave the lead to the "yes" vote.<br /><br />Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond urged voters to let go of the political arguments and head to the polling stations to support the independence referendum.<br /><br />In a statement released by the British media, Salmond said the discussions were almost coming to an end and that it was time to make a decision.<br /><br />"The talking is nearly done. The campaigns will have had their say. What's left is just us, the people who live and work here, the only people with a vote, the people who matter, the people who for a few precious hours during polling day hold sovereignty, power, authority in their hands," he said.<br /><br />"It's the greatest, most empowering moment any of us will ever have. Scotland's future, our country in our hands," Salmond continued.<br /><br />Labour Party politicians such as former prime minister Gordon Brown and ex-economy minister Alistair Darling Wednesday made a last-ditch effort to ask Scots to vote "no".<br />Voters over 16 years of age who live in Scotland will have to answer "yes" or "no" to the question whether they want the region to be independent.</p>
<p>Three new opinion polls published Wednesday have shown a slight lead for the "no" vote on Scottish independence.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Meanwhile, politicians from both sides made last minute appeals before Thursday's referendum seeking to convince those who have not yet made up their minds.<br /><br />The polls by Opinium for the British newspaper Daily Telegraph, ICM for the Scottish newspaper The Scotsman, and Sarvation for Daily Mail showed that the anti-independence votes were slightly ahead of the "yes" votes for splitting from Britain.<br />Excluding undecided voters, 52 percent of those questioned said they would vote "no" to independence while 48 percent said they would vote "yes".<br /><br />The independence debate has intensified, especially after opinion survey results released in early July gave the lead to the "yes" vote.<br /><br />Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond urged voters to let go of the political arguments and head to the polling stations to support the independence referendum.<br /><br />In a statement released by the British media, Salmond said the discussions were almost coming to an end and that it was time to make a decision.<br /><br />"The talking is nearly done. The campaigns will have had their say. What's left is just us, the people who live and work here, the only people with a vote, the people who matter, the people who for a few precious hours during polling day hold sovereignty, power, authority in their hands," he said.<br /><br />"It's the greatest, most empowering moment any of us will ever have. Scotland's future, our country in our hands," Salmond continued.<br /><br />Labour Party politicians such as former prime minister Gordon Brown and ex-economy minister Alistair Darling Wednesday made a last-ditch effort to ask Scots to vote "no".<br />Voters over 16 years of age who live in Scotland will have to answer "yes" or "no" to the question whether they want the region to be independent.</p>