The Vermont notary advisers were scheduled to have a video meeting today so I signed into it. The notary advisers didn’t make the meeting, but SOS general counsel Lauren Layman and Notary Public Licensing Administrator Kasey Mayer were there. I was the only member of the public present, so they just let me ask questions.
I expressed my confusion about the exact meaning of the rule
“A notary public authorized to perform electronic notarial acts shall use the same electronic signature and electronic official stamp, if using, for all electronic notarial acts.”
Ms Layman said this came from National Association of Secretaries of State recommendations. We agreed that it needed to be tightened up as far as what period of time it needs to be kept the same, and whether being the same just means it looks the same as the paper version, or every single electronic bit must be the same.
I also asked about what notarial acts require the notary to establish the identity of the signer. She agree that the notary only needs to ID the signer when Vermont law § 5363 “Requirements for certain notarial acts” says so. That is, acknowledgements, verifications on oath or affirmation, and signature witnessing.
The notarial acts that don’t require the notary to ID the person they are dealing with are copy certification, protests*, and oaths/affirmations that are not verification. Examples of non-verification oaths/affirmations would be oaths before oral testimony and oaths of office.
It looks like public hearings on proposed permanent rules should occur in two months or so.