Not witnessing a signature is a crime if you sign an affidavit saying you did.
But how you are punished depends on who occupies the office of Attorney General, and… well, who YOU ARE!
When Larry Long was Attorney General (back in 2004), six Republican notary publics faced charges for signing that they witnessed signatures, when in fact they hadn’t. This “scandal” involved over 1,400 signatures. It might be important to note that these six were “working” for the Republican Party.
They were charged with improper use of a notary commission, a Class 2 misdemeanor 
punishable by up to a month in jail and a $200 fine and the possibility of losing their notary licenses.
The States Attorney, Dave Nelson, had this to say…”Notary violations are very, very common” in government and business”.
Ten years later…
… someone else is charged with signing that she witnessed 37 signatures when she did not personally witness them signing. Her name is Annette Bosworth. She dared to challenge a former Governor in the Republican primary for US Senate. Charges were filed by Attorney General Marty Jackley, a political donor, fundraiser and appointee of the former Governor. The charges: 12 felonies, carrying the potential penalty of 24 years in prison, $48,000 in fines and the loss of her license to practice medicine.
Jackley took this “crime” so seriously that he engaged the DCI to “investigate” (some say interrogate and intimidate) people who had signed the Bosworth petitions.
This hardly seems like even-handed dispensation of justice.
***Gordon Howie is an author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
“It’s not about right or left, it’s about Right or Wrong.”
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Lets not forget that Rounds’ crony Joel Arends admits that he notarized petitions for Annette as her attorney in which he knew she wasn’t even in the country! Why hasn’t he been charged? Could it be because he co-hosted a fundraiser for Marty Jackley and Mike Rounds in his paid work with the Rushmore PAC that was supporting Rounds even as Arends worked on Bosworth’s campaign http://dakotawarcollege.com/marty-jackley-fundraiser-featuring-mike-rounds/
I agree with you that Dr. Bosworth’s violations, although illegal, pales in comparison to the Republican notaries’ violations in 2004…all other things being equal it must mean that being a winner, Republicans in this case, makes all the difference in the world…
What is the reason for the law in the first place? Why do they have to witness, why can’t a representative of the campaign? It seems like a useless piece of English. The Candidate does not know if the signature of said person is a registered voter, it all has to be double checked and counted right? maybe I do not understand the whole process, but I would sure be looking into all of the AG;s life long deals with anyone, and see how up front they are. Maybe we should turn the investigation on him as to why he is taking this so seriously after all these years of looking the other way for certain people. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm now there is an ideal.