Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic by winning up to 57 percent of the vote. The victory was certain to accelerate reforms across the Soviet Union and it cleared the way for him to travel to Washington next week, at the invitation of Congress, in a demonstration of independence from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. 67.5 percent in Leningrad, the second-largest Soviet city. The White House applauded his election as a "good sign" for democracy and said he would visit here next Thursday. But Yeltsin's supporters say that while they are pleased with the result, there is still much work ahead on issues such as economic reform and political reform. Election officials say they are laboriously counting paper ballots cast at each of 98,000 polling stations.
Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic by winning up to 57 percent of the vote. The victory was certain to accelerate reforms across the Soviet Union and it cleared the way for him to travel to Washington next week, at the invitation of Congress, in a demonstration of independence from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The White House applauded his election as a "good sign" for democracy and said he would visit here next Thursday. But Yeltsin's supporters say that while they are pleased with the result, there is still much work ahead on issues such as economic reform and political reform. Election officials say they are laboriously counting paper ballots cast at each of 98,000 polling stations.