Forty-five thousand Louisiana voters cast their ballots legally. They followed the rules, returned their ballots, and trusted that their votes would count. Governor Jeff Landry just told them, on national television, that their votes will be discarded. And that it is "not a big deal."

Louisiana suspended its congressional primary elections last month after a Supreme Court gerrymandering ruling opened the door to new congressional maps. Governor Landry issued an executive order halting the primaries, citing the need for a "fair and lawful congressional map." But tens of thousands of votes had already been cast before that order was issued.

When CBS News correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed Landry during a "60 Minutes" interview about what would happen to those 45,000 ballots, his answer was blunt: "Oh, those ballots are discarded. And those people will vote again in November."

When Vega noted that he seemed to be treating this as unimportant, Landry confirmed it. "Well, it's not a big deal," he said. "It's not my fault. If anyone has a grievance, take it to the United States Supreme Court."

A governor discarding tens of thousands of legally cast ballots by executive order and directing aggrieved voters to the Supreme Court is not election integrity. It is the opposite. Once a ballot is legally cast, no executive order should be able to erase it. That principle should not depend on which party controls the governor's office.

We are calling on Governor Landry and the Louisiana Legislature to protect the 45,000 ballots already cast, and on Congress to pass federal protections ensuring that legally cast votes cannot be discarded when elections are suspended or rescheduled due to redistricting disputes.

Forty-five thousand voters participated in their democracy. Their governor told them it was not a big deal. Tell him it is.