Ohio governor hits Clinton on voting rights

Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) on Friday accused Hillary Clinton of playing politics by attacking Republican states for their voting rules.

“Don’t be running around the country dividing Americans,” Kasich said on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.”

“Don’t come in and say we are trying to keep people from voting when her own state has less opportunity for voting,” he said.

{mosads}“She is going to sue my state?” Kasich asked. “That’s just silly.”

Clinton criticized her potential GOP rivals on Thursday during remarks in Texas in which she called for at least 20 days of early voting nationwide, implementing automatic voting registration and restoring key portions of the Voting Rights Act.

Clinton mentioned former Govs. Rick Perry (R-Texas) and Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) as well as Govs. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and Scott Walker (R-Wis.) in her criticism.

All four Republicans are expected to run for president next year, and Perry officially joined the race this week.

Voting rights lawsuits have been filed in Ohio and Wisconsin, according to Newsmax. It reported that Marc Elias, the Clinton campaign’s general counsel, is one of the attorneys involved in the cases against both states.

Kasich criticized the lawsuits as “demagoguery” given that other states allow far fewer voting days than his own.

He cited New York — Clinton’s current home — as one place with more restrictive voting regulations than the Buckeye State.

“If she wants to sue somebody, let them sue New York,” Kasich said. “We have 27 days of voting. In New York, the only voting that occurs is on Election Day.”

“Why don’t you take care of business at home before you run around the country using these demagogic statement that we don’t want people to vote?” he asked of Clinton, a former New York senator.

Kasich additionally dismissed concerns over his current polling numbers should he officially seek the Oval Office next year.

“Even Barack Obama and Bill Clinton didn’t register in early polls,” Kasich said. “That’s why you have primaries. I think national polls at this point are not relevant.”