On Thursday, Sept. 18, voters headed to the polls in Scotland for an historic referendum that will decide whether or not the country will declare independence from the United Kingdom.

Voters answered the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?" with either a "yes" or "no" vote.

"More than 4.2 million people have registered to vote, the largest electorate ever in Scotland, and turnout in the referendum is expected to be high," reports CNN.

Last week, surveys show that Scottish-born voters are evenly split on the question of independence after centuries under British rule, each side with 48 percent.

However, a new study shows that most of the 477,000 voters born in England and tens of thousands of Welsh, Northern Irish and foreigners are poised to vote "No" to Scotland's independence on Sept. 18, reports the Daily Mail.

Unionists have also noted that many of the 750,000 Scots who reside in England share a strong anti-independence sentiment or cannot participate in next week's vote.

A new YouGov poll for the Times and Sun newspapers revealed that 63 percent of English, Welsh and Northern Irish voters living in Scotland are planning to reject independence, whereas only 27 percent of non-Scottish Brits and a third of those born outside the U.K. plan to vote for independence.

Meanwhile, more than 50 percent of foreign immigrants living in Scotland do not favor separation.

"All my family are Scottish, my dad is Glaswegian and we spent all our holidays coming up here when we lived in London. But my friends are in England, I went to university in Hull," said 23-year-old Roisin Kay, who grew up in London before moving to Glasgow and plans to vote against separation in the referendum.

"I feel like there is a strong connection between Scotland and England and feel very passionate about Scotland staying in the UK," she told BBC News.

Likewise, 23-year-old Anya O'Shea says she doesn't want a "needless border."

"I love living in Scotland, but I don't want to feel split from my family in London and Manchester by a needless border," she says.

"Health, education and policing are already devolved in Scotland. That's good, but I like the strength and security of being part of something bigger. There are so many risks and uncertainties involved in independence, and Scottish families don't need that," she added.