LONDON -- Scotland's leader has presented his proposal for a ballot on independence, and his ideas include letting 16- and 17-year-olds cast ballots in a vote that could see the breakup of Britain in four years.

First Minister Alex Salmond announced the Scottish government's preferred options for the vote on whether to sever ties from Britain, which it plans to hold in fall 2014. A "yes" vote would lead to independence taking effect with a May 2016 election for the Scottish Parliament.

Scotland and England united in 1707 to form Great Britain. In 1997, Scotland gained significant autonomy after voting to set up the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament, but some Scots want to go further and make the 5 million people an independent nation within the European Union.

Salmond, who leads the separatist Scottish National Party, said in the Edinburgh assembly yesterday that the ballot would ask, "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?" But he said it could also include a third option, backing increased autonomy short of full independence. And he said the voting age should be lowered from the current 18.

"If a 16-year-old in Scotland can register to join the army, get married and pay taxes, surely he or she should be able to have a say in this country's constitutional future?" Salmond said.

Scottish 16-year-olds can join the army, though they cannot be sent into combat until they are 18, can work full-time and marry without parental consent.

British Prime Minister David Cameron's government has offered the Scots the power to hold an independence vote, but it wants a say in the timing and could insist the Electoral Commission should set the question.

A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We’re celebrating Women’s History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

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