oversight role and the particularly critically important separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. let me address another issue straight on. i was accused in 1986 of failing to protect the voting rights of african-americans by presenting the voter fraud case. and condemning civil rights advocates, and organizations and even harboring amazingly, sympathies for the kkk. these are false charges. the voter fraud case, my office prosecuted was in response to pleas from african-americans incumbent elected officials who claimed the absentee ballot process involved a situation in which ballots cast for them were stolen, altered and cast for their opponents. the prosecution sought to protect the integrity of the ballots, not to block voting. it was a voting rights case.