COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission approved new four-year legislative maps in the dark of night Thursday, and as the wait is on to see if the Ohio Supreme Court intervenes, the maps and the process in which they were drawn are being heavily criticized by Democrats and nonpartisan redistricting advocates.

Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, was asked to defend the new maps, which ensure Republicans will keep their supermajority at the Statehouse, at a news conference Thursday.

"If they don't like what this process is, obviously they can go to the ballot and try to change the process," said Huffman.

Katy Shanahan from All on the Line argued Ohioans already did that in 2015, but it fell on deaf ears Wednesday.

"They essentially sent us a message back to say they don't care,” Shanahan said. “They don't care about our reform measures. They don't care about our constitution. They don't care about our public input and they certainly don't care about our democracy.”

The new maps lean towards 62 Republican seats in the House and 23 in the Senate. Huffman justifies those numbers by saying they reflect the majority of the candidates who won in statewide elections the past 10 years.

"Then this is an illegal, gerrymander that hurts Republicans,” said Dr. David Niven, political science professor at the University of Cincinnati. “If they believed what they're saying with a straight face, they've drawn a map that's unfair because it gives Democrats more than 19% of the seats in the Statehouse. So I think they're grasping at straws there.”

And because four-year maps were approved, six-year maps will come next unless someone sues the commission in which the case would be heard by the Ohio Supreme Court.​

A number of nonpartisan redistricting advocates like Jen Miller, who represents the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said between the maps and the process that is an option as well as creating another ballot initiative.

"What I can guarantee is that we're not done,” Miller said. “You know, that this was round one and we will come out swinging with more options for the people to secure fair maps.”

And while the wait continues to see what happens with the legislative maps, it is also worth noting Ohio is just a couple weeks out from the initial deadline for the state legislature to draw and approve a new congressional district map.