Ohio just voted with unconstitutional maps. What comes next for redistricting?

Ohioans just picked representatives using districts drawn to favor Republicans despite voter-approved changes to curb partisan favoritism.

And the results are in: A red wave swept the Ohio Statehouse, giving Republicans record numbers and Democrats dwindling influence.

At the congressional level, Republicans lost two seats − one to sluggish population growth and another to Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Landsman, who defeated longtime Republican Rep. Steve Chabot. That Cincinnati-based district leaned Democratic for the first time in years. Ohio's congressional delegation changed from 12 Republicans and four Democrats to 10 Republicans and five Democrats.

"We went from Democrats being 25% of delegation and now they’ll be a third but it’s a little bit like going from an F grade to a D grade," said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio and longtime redistricting reform advocate.

But you can toss those maps in the dustbin of history. The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that leaders must craft new district lines for 2024 that align with what voters wanted. So, what comes next?

Does anybody have a map?

Ohio lawmakers must craft new lines that voters will use in 2024 to select the 15 politicians who represent Ohio in Washington, D.C., If they don't, the task falls to the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission.

That commission is also tasked with drawing lines for state lawmakers. During the last round of mapmaking, Republicans controlled five of the seven seats. That balance won't change because Democrats failed to knock off three statewide Republican officials: Gov. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Auditor Keith Faber.

When will Ohio's leaders start working on those new maps? "I have no idea, which sounds insane," Turcer said. "I don’t know what’s going to happen because elected officials haven’t met deadlines."

House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima, didn't offer any clarity.

"How we're going to do that I think is still a question that we're going to have to come to grips with," Cupp said at Thursday's Impact Ohio post-election conference. "There's just a lot of unknowns."

Ohio legislators have several marathon lawmaking days before the end of the year. Then, they'll turn their attention to the next two-year state budget. That leaves little time for the intricate work of mapmaking.

Another factor is whether the U.S. Supreme Court will put congressional mapmaking on hold. Republican lawmakers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the Ohio Supreme Court overstepped in striking down maps and ordering new ones. Voter-approved changes to the state constitution gave the Ohio Supreme Court the power to review maps.

Backstop no more? What changes at the Ohio Supreme Court mean for redistricting

The swing vote on the Ohio Supreme Court's 4-3 redistricting decisions, Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, leaves on Dec. 31 because of age limits on judges.

In her place will be Republican Justice Sharon Kennedy, who was elected chief justice over Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner. The balance of the court will remain three Democrats and four Republicans, including a new justice whom DeWine will appoint.

Kennedy, along with Republican Justices Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer, repeatedly ruled in favor of Ohio's GOP-drawn maps. She wrote that the Ohio Constitution didn't give the Ohio Supreme Court the power to "demand by judicial fiat the adoption of a new General Assembly-district plan" simply because some votes were diluted.

"Invariably, redistricting is a process of line drawing. And in drawing those lines, some Democratic voters must be placed in Republican-leaning districts and some Republican voters must be placed in Democratic-leaning districts. Any plan will dilute or enhance the strength of some voters," she wrote.

Democrats, including House Minority Leader Allison Russo, worry that the Ohio Supreme Court will now become a rubber stamp for GOP-drawn maps. "We have a court now that has shown its willingness to accept the partisanship and partisan gerrymandering," she said Thursday.

If the court decided that mapmakers must attempt to match the statewide voting preferences of Ohioans over the past decade, those figures could be more favorable to Republicans. A 10-year lookback would likely now include Mike DeWine's decisive victory over Democrat Nan Whaley in place of 2012 results, a good year for Democrats because of former President Barack Obama's win.

Will Ohio vote on an independent redistricting commission?

Russo and Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights, say the only solution is taking the pen away from politicians.

“Independent commissions," Yuko said at Impact Ohio. "I think that’s the only answer. I think we’ve proved that we’re incapable of doing it among ourselves.”

But don't expect to see an independent commission on your ballot in the near future.

"It's going much more slowly than people might want," Turcer said. "We want to be super thoughtful about this and ensure that we have the resources that we need to get this off the ground and to win at the ballot."

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio voted with unconstitutional maps. What's next for redistricting?