You may have heard of a new initiative out of the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office that now allows for notary processes to be handled electronically. We immediately questioned how this would impact candidates, so we asked election law attorney Robert Windon to shed some light on the subject for us. Here’s what he said:
While this is a giant leap forward in modernization and great news for many Illinoisans and businesses, especially those in rural areas who struggle to find a notary, candidates should proceed with caution if thinking about using the “E-Notary” for their nominating papers.
While using the E-Notary is in compliance with the Illinois Notary Public Act now that the Secretary of State’s Office has laid out their guidelines, a problem arises in the Illinois Election Code.
According to 10 ILCS 5/8-8 and 5/7-10, the original sheets that are signed by the voters must be filed with the election authorities. In order to have a document electronically notarized, that document must be in digital form which would require scanning petitions and nominating papers so they can be electronically notarized.
Until the courts give some clarity or the legislature amends the Election Code, utilizing the E-Notary for nominating papers is too risky and not advised.
While it’s possible that a court would consider those petitions and nominating papers to be the “original” documents, there is no precedent yet. There might be a time in the not-too-distant future when we can be confident in filing nominating papers that are notarized electronically, but that time is not now.
You will be able to take advantage of this new service for personal matters or business purposes, but we recommend candidates continue to obtain a notary the old-fashioned way for now.
If you have any questions about the new E-Notary service as a candidate, feel free to connect with Robert Windon with Windon Strategies directly. Or reach out to us at Cor Strategies and we’ll be happy to help ensure you are notarizing your nominating papers correctly.
