Vermont is adopting it’s first real set of notary administrative rules. There’s a webpage describing the process, and the draft rules are posted.
The rules are very unclear about how a notary would electronically sign a notarial certificate. (The signer can sign any old way.) Signing with an X.509 certificate is a requirement. Is that enough, by itself? Should the notary also provide an image of the notary’s handwritten signature? What if the notary signs a handwritten signature with something crude, like a mouse, and it doesn’t look like the signature on the notary’s oath of office?
If the person who receives the notarized electronic document wants an apostille, how will the Secretary of State verify the signature?
Do any of you have ideas about how it should be done? Do you have a system in your state that you think is great?