INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Republican leaders are defending their fast-track work to approve Indiana's new congressional and legislative election districts over the next two weeks.

The state’s GOP leaders are pushing back on critics who've argued the public won't have enough time to weigh in on the once-a-decade redistricting. The Indiana House elections committee on Wednesday opened two days of public hearings on the redistricting plan a little more than 24 hours after the new congressional and Indiana House maps were posted online.

Republican leaders say the redistricting work needs to move quickly because census delays meant state officials didn't receive population data until August 12th.