World

The autumn session of the Supreme Soviet was only 45 minutes old when President Mikhail Gorbachev smiled at the 470 Deputies and pointed with pride to giant projection screens suspended at both ends of the Kremlin hall. "Let's try out the new machine," he suggested, referring to the electronic voting system installed during the summer recess. He gave the signal, and the sound of clicking filled the hall. Hundreds of faces turned to the screens and saw . . . nothing.

In a sarcastic tone, Gorbachev said, "The machine doesn't work. Get out your old weapons." The Deputies waved the credentials cards traditionally used for voting. Determined as usual to advance perestroika, Gorbachev kept the Deputies after the session for a lecture and a demonstration of how the new system was supposed to work. This time the technicians remembered to turn on the power.