Only 22 of the 79 judges and lawyers who were nominated to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Georgia sent completed applications to the governor’s Judicial Nominating Commission by Friday’s deadline.

The JNC is expected to interview some of the 22 remaining nominees and recommend a short list to Gov. Brian Kemp, who has been weighing a separate short list for an open Georgia Court of Appeals seat since last November. They would be his first choices for the state’s top two courts.