5.2 Absentee Ballot Notarizations & Employer Fee Rules

Two special fee situations appear on almost every Missouri notary exam: absentee voting documents, which a notary may never charge for, and notaries who work for an employer, where the statute decides who keeps the fees.

No Fee for Absentee Voting Documents (Section 486.685.5)

"A notary shall not charge a fee for notarizing the signature on any absentee ballot or absentee voter registration." The handbook repeats that a Missouri notary cannot charge for notarizing an absentee ballot envelope. The Written Notary Training Course tests it directly: notaries may not charge for absentee ballots or absentee voter registration cards.

This rule has no exception. A notary may not charge a "journal fee," a "service fee," or a travel fee disguised as something else for the absentee ballot notarization itself.

The Handbook's Absentee Ballot Procedure

The handbook says notaries should identify the voter "just as with any other notarial act" and verify that they can perform the act before completing anything on the envelope. The voter may fill in the required fields before the notarization, but the notary must watch the voter sign the envelope. The steps are:

1. The voter marks the ballot in secret, places it in the ballot envelope, seals the envelope, and fills out the statement on the envelope before the notarization starts.
2. Identify the person seeking the notarization.
3. Log the information in the notary journal and have the voter sign the journal.
4. Have the voter sign in the appropriate signature block.
5. Review the envelope to verify that the name being notarized matches the journal entry and the identification presented.
6. Complete the notary jurat on the envelope.
7. Sign and affix the seal in the space provided.
8. Return the completed envelope to the voter.

The absentee statement is made under penalty of perjury, and the envelope carries a jurat ("Subscribed and sworn to before me"). The notary does not see the ballot, does not help mark it, and returns the envelope to the voter rather than mailing it.

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Election Law Consequences

Section 115.631 RSMo lists class one election offenses, which "are deemed felonies" punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, a fine of $2,500 to $10,000, or both. Subdivision (22) covers a notary public acting in an official capacity who knowingly violates any provision of Chapter 115 or any law pertaining to elections. Separately, a notary who knowingly charges for an absentee ballot notarization violates Chapter 486, a misdemeanor under Section 578.700.3, and risks revocation.

Notaries and Their Employers (Section 486.695)

Many notaries are commissioned because an employer needs one: banks, title companies, law offices, county offices. Section 486.695 sets three rules:

The same rules apply to electronic notaries performing electronic acts (Section 486.960.5).

Applying the Rules

• A bank may tell its teller-notary: "No charging customers during your shift." That is a lawful prohibition.
• The same bank may not say: "Charge $5 and turn the money over to the branch." A private employer cannot take or share the notary's fees.
• A county office that paid for an employee's commission, bond, and seal must have that employee either waive fees for acts on county time or turn them over to the county.

Other Workplace Protections

Employment does not change who controls the notary's tools or judgment:

• The seal may not be surrendered to an employer (Section 486.725.3), and the journal may not be surrendered to an employer or used by another notary (Section 486.715.2).
• An employer may not use or control the means for producing an electronic notary's registered signature and seal, or keep them when employment ends (Sections 486.940.4 and 486.1170.4).
• An employer is liable for damages caused by a notary's misconduct that it directed, expected, encouraged, approved, or tolerated, and is liable to the notary for coercing a violation or punishing a refusal (Section 486.805.3-4; see Section 5.3).
• Anyone who knowingly solicits, coerces, or influences a notary to commit official misconduct commits a misdemeanor (Section 578.700.6).

Exam Scenarios

• Store policy fee. A pharmacy notary is told to charge $3 "per store policy" for absentee ballot envelopes. Section 486.685.5 forbids any fee, and the notary must refuse.
• Fee split. A title company tells its notary to split notary fees 50-50 with the company. A private employer cannot require surrender or sharing of fees.
• City clerk's office. A city paid all of its employee's notary costs. The employee must waive fees for acts on city time or remit them to the city.