Nebraskans are about to learn who Gov. Jim Pillen is selecting to replace Ben Sasse as one of the state’s two U.S. senators for the next two years.

But in a snub to citizens and the principle of open government, Pillen and his staff won’t even say who has applied for the job.

The appointment decision itself, which is expected any day now, is already a huge change from the normal democratic process. When Sasse was re-elected in 2020 to his current term, more than 930,000 Nebraskans cast ballots in the senate race. About 583,500 of them voted for Sasse, which put him in office for the past two years.

For the next two years, in contrast, Sasse’s replacement will be chosen by just one voter: Pillen. (An election in 2024 will decide the final two years of the term, with Pillen’s appointee likely having the inside track in that race.)

Like it or not, those are the established rules for dealing with an unexpected vacancy.

But Pillen could have made the situation better by being more open about the replacement process. Transparency is especially important given that it’s widely speculated that Pillen will choose his most prominent supporter in last year’s governor’s race, former Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Anything that keeps the process in the shadows gives the impression, justified or not, that the decision has already been made.

The public knows that Ricketts applied for the job because he announced it on Dec. 6. But Pillen has, so far, declined to release a list of any other applicants, who had until Dec. 23 to apply.

We’ve been asking for a list since before that deadline. Pillen’s staff has said they would provide it, but only after the governor makes the appointment. They held back a similar list last month of applicants to replace Mike Hilgers, who left his legislative seat after being elected attorney general. Pillen’s office released the names only after Beau Ballard was appointed.

The Pillen administration’s approach differs from past practices that ensured transparency. Under Ricketts, for example, the governor’s office released lists of applicants for positions as soon as the deadline passed — often along with the applicants’ resumes.

Delaying the release of such information is unfair to Nebraskans. It keeps the public from knowing who Pillen is considering, and undermines their ability to influence the choice before the decision is made. It also prevents important information about would-be appointees from coming to light — at the time when that knowledge might make a difference.

The World-Herald renewed our request last week for the list of applicants to replace Sasse. We received an email from Pillen’s office saying that they would respond within four business days, the maximum allowed under the state’s public records statutes. That would be sometime this week.

But there’s no legitimate reason it should take that long. Pillen’s office has known the names of the applicants for more than two weeks, and they’ve had our request for even longer. It’s tempting to conclude that they are just trying to run out the clock.

Nebraska has a tradition of open government and giving its citizens access to information. Both political parties have supported that. And the state has laws to enforce it, too.

At their heart, such traditions and laws amount to public officials and public bodies treating Nebraskans with respect, acknowledging their standing as citizens to watch what their government is doing or plans to do.

Let’s hope that this rocky start in terms of transparency is just a matter of a new administration learning the ropes.

Nebraskans won’t agree with everything that Pillen does over the next four years. Controversial issues are sure to produce divisions and differences of opinion. And that’s fine. Elected leaders can’t satisfy everyone they serve.

But they can treat their fellow citizens as fully deserving of information about government policies, decisions and actions.

We’re hoping that Pillen will meet that standard.

This editorial first appeared in the Omaha World-Herald on January 8, 2023. It was distributed by The Associated Press.