the results of the Savannah Bar Association’s Judicial Qualification Survey have been compiled for the contested Superior Court election between Judge John E. Morse, Jr. and Peter Muller.

For contested elections such as this, the SBA developed a protocol in 2005 to poll its Members, as well as attorneys registered with the State Bar of Georgia with an address in Chatham County, on their experience with the candidates in the contested race.  The purpose of the Judicial Qualification Survey is to provide the public at large with the collected opinions of local attorneys on the qualifications of each candidate for the judicial position at issue.

The format of the survey recommended by the SBA’s Judicial Liaison Committee and adopted by the full SBA in 2005 is the format for such judicial qualification surveys approved by the American Bar Association, and asks each survey responder to provide a rating for each candidate from amongst the following four choices: (1) Well-qualified, (2) Qualified, (3) Not Qualified and (4) Do not know / no opinion.

In order to ensure the integrity and anonymity of the process, the SBA engaged Hancock Askew & Co., LLP accounting firm to administer the survey, tabulate the responses and certify the results.

Out of the 319 responses returned to Hancock Askew by survey participants, the certified results were as follows:

Judge John E. Morse, Jr.:                    Well-qualified:                                    120 (37.6%)

                                                            Qualified:                                           103 (32.3%)

                                                            Not Qualified:                                     71 (22.3%)

                                                            Do not know / no opinion:                    25 (7.8%)

Peter D. Muller:                                   Well-qualified:                                    89 (28.0%)

                                                            Qualified:                                           84 (26.4%)

                                                            Not Qualified:                                     58 (18.2%)

                                                            Do not know / no opinion:                    87 (27.4%)