American drama critic and editor George Nathan delivered one of the classic get-out-the-vote quotes: "Bad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote." But his logic doesn't apply here. In Utah, bad officials are the ones elected for good citizens who aren't given a chance to vote.

Utah's quirky candidate selection process too often disenfranchises the rank and file. Electoral decisions are made by a few on behalf of the many thanks to a party caucus and convention system that concentrates the power in the hands of party elites.

For example, all it will take at Saturday's Republican state convention is 2,100 votes -- 60 percent of the delegates -- for a U.S. Senate candidate to advance directly to the general election against a token Democrat. In other words, 2,100 people may speak for nearly 3 million. As a result, Utah voting rates are among the worst in the nation.

The poor turnouts are often attributed to the dominance of the GOP, and gerrymandered districts, in the state. The theory goes that Democrats don't vote because their candidate is sure to lose, and Republicans don't bother because their candidate is sure to win. But perhaps that aversion to the voting booth also has something to do with the electorate's dissatisfaction with the candidates that emerge from conventions.

Convention delegates are selected at poorly attended precinct caucuses dominated by political activists, who tend to trend far to the right, or far to the left, of their party's mainstream. While, at least technically, delegates are representatives, they vote their own free will at conventions. And their selections are not always representative of the wishes of the whole, especially when moderate candidates seek a seat.

For example, the polls indicate that Republican delegates are poised to discard a sitting U.S. senator who would likely win the popular vote. The same thing happened in 2004, when a popular Republican governor failed to win her party's nomination.

But in an open primary system, which Utah's political parties should adopt, candidates from across the political spectrum could run for office without shifting their views to the right or the left to align with those of the delegates.

Candidates would qualify for the ballot by gathering signatures of registered voters in their district. They'd make their case directly to the rank and file. And they would be chosen by all of the party's voters in an actual election.

Only then could we honestly say that the people have spoken.