JOHN BARROW: How partisan is too partisan? Wrong question.

Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 -- "The most partisan voters end up deciding how partisan is too partisan. That's the problem." -- Washington Post Oped

Posted 1:20 p.m. Oct 2, 2017 — Updated 1:22 p.m. Oct 2, 2017

John Barrow represented Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015. He makes important points today in a Washington Post oped, often overlooked, in the debate over how to deal with the radical gerrymandering that has plagued many states, particularly North Carolina.

"The question is not whether the courts should decide how partisan is too partisan. It is how to make it possible for voters to decide that for themselves. Right now, due to a combination of polarized voting and partisan gerrymandering, primary voters rule the roost. As a result, a relatively small number of primary voters are vastly overrepresented in our legislative bodies while voters who show up only in general elections are vastly underrepresented. The most partisan voters end up deciding how partisan is too partisan. That’s the problem. ... Our election system should give the same power to moderates and to partisans."