Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) is not running for reelection to his North Carolina seat after it was redrawn to favor Republicans, but he is introducing legislation to take the redistricting process out of the hands of state legislatures.

Nickel introduced the bill on Tuesday that would create independent commissions of 15 people in each state to formulate congressional maps each decade to coincide with new census data. The bill called the Fair and Impartial Redistricting for Meaningful and Accountable Political Systems, or FAIR MAPS, Act would “restore fairness” in the redistricting process, according to Nickel.

“Unfortunately, in North Carolina and across the country, partisan gerrymandering has been used as a tool by politicians of both parties to manipulate electoral outcomes with almost surgical precision,” Nickel said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“This story isn’t unique to North Carolina, and the problem isn’t just with the current state legislature. History has made one thing clear: Politicians can’t be trusted to fairly draw electoral maps. I’m proud to introduce the FAIR MAPS Act to take politicians out of the process completely,” he added. “By doing so, we can restore fairness and ensure that voters are the ones choosing their politicians, and not the other way around.”

Democrats and Republicans in several states, including Illinois and Texas, have been accused of gerrymandering congressional maps to favor the majority party in the respective state at the expense of competitive districts.

Nickel, pointing to a study by Duke University, argued nonpartisan commissions making the maps would result in 37 to 42 more competitive House seats.

The legislation is cosponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who called it a “commonsense proposal that voters deserve.”

Opponents of independent commissions for redistricting have argued they cannot be totally nonpartisan and can still be a vehicle for partisan congressional mapmaking.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Nickel announced in December that he would not be seeking another term in Congress after his district went from having a partisan voting index of Republican +2 to Republican +11, according to the Cook Political Report. The outlet has rated his seat as “solid Republican.”

The North Carolina congressional map set to be used in November is expected to give Republicans as many as four more seats.