Emergency Order #11 permits notarial officers to perform secure, online notarization of legal documents. The order creates an exception to the requirement that the signatory personally appear before the notarial officer. A notarial officer can now witness an act through video conference or other electronic means, where the signatory is at a physical location different from the notarial officer. Further, the order provides several new options to the notarial officer to confirm the signatory’s identity other than through personal knowledge and confirmation with government issued identification. The order allows for confirmation of the signatory’s identity by review of two sources of public or private data whereby a third party confirms identity and it allows for a witness, who is either physically present or able to communicate with the notarial officer, to confirm identity by electronic means. Finally, the order requires that the notarial officer create and retain an audio and visual recording of the performance of the notarization. 

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