I, personally, would never do such a stupid thing. First of all, I'm very bad at facial recognition. Second, many DL photos take some studying to match them to the person sitting in front of me. Occasionally, they're spot on, but some of those photos are a stretch. My photo (when I was in CA) went back 20 years. Also, not my job as a notary. We notarize signatures and certify some stuff. Abba dabba.
In any case, there's a big difference between wanting "a statement" as you first indicated and "certifying' as you mentioned later. I suppose you could make a statement that the DL photo is a match to the guy as far as you can tell and sign your name as a random individual, making clear you are doing so not as a notary… but to do so in your capacity as a notary is impossible. Not authorized. So I totally agree with your refusal and your reasons why. I mean, really, where in the CA handbook does it say notaries can make judgments such as they are asking. Geez, what is it that people think notaries do?
Also I agree with Cheryl. The CA SOS is basically worthless as a Q&A source. |
