Anyone can file to become a candidate, but a committee appointed by the governor winnows the list, and the governor picks two final candidates for each available seat. Finally, the public votes.

Since the middle part of the process eliminates viable candidates based on the subjective judgment, first, of a 12-member committee and, finally, of the governor, it's important that the deliberations of the committee, at least, be open to the public.

The nominating committee, headed by Jeff Alexander, a former Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives, rightly decided last week to make the first of its candidate-interview sessions open to the public. It was a last-minute decision that didn't give most people enough time to attend, but some people interested in the process were there and were invited in.

Unfortunately, the committee's next meeting, planned for Thursday, may be closed to the public, depending on what the attorney general's office advises. Closing these hearings cannot be justified, for that would keep important information about how candidates are chosen secret from their constituents, who, after all, will be represented by one of these candidates.

A closed meeting would make a semi-democratic process much more undemocratic. Worse, closed meetings could be fertile ground for those who may want to manipulate the system to promote their own agendas.

That's a particular concern of public-education advocates this year. And rightly so. There is an obvious push among private-school voucher proponents - including legislative leaders - to get voucher supporters on the ballot. If enough pro-voucher candidates are passed through the process by the nominating committee, the 15-member state school board could be stacked in favor of that issue.

And that would be a slap in the face to Utahns who overwhelmingly rejected a voucher law - a pet project of conservative Republicans in the Legislature for nearly a decade - in a referendum last November.

To keep the process honest and open, meetings should not be closed.