Report Certification:  The Significance of the signature

All disclosure reports must be certified by the treasurer as true and accurate.  In previous years, treasurers were required to obtain the services of a notary to provide an affidavit that the report's contents were true.  Currently, an original signature below the certification statement contained on the Disclosure Report Cover (CRO-1000) serves as affirmation that the report being submitted is true and accurate as filed.  

Without that original signature, the document or documents submitted will be treated as "miscellaneous correspondence."   The result will be a penalty for the committee unless the treasurer is able to submit a properly signed report before the due date.

The date next to the signature should reflect the date that the report was actually signed; the signature should not be affixed prior to the expiration of the report period (the “period end date”), since no one may affirm what happened on a day prior to that day’s occurrence.    Reports bearing signatures that pre-date the expiration of the report period will require amendment. 

North Carolina requires what is called a "wet signature," which means that the signature must be an original, not a photocopy or a stamp.    That is why photocopies, faxes or email scans of Disclosure Reports and other documents requiring signature (with few exceptions)^[1] are not accepted.   If a photocopied signature is submitted instead of the original, the report is treated as "miscellaneous correspondence."   Fines may result.   We recommend that blue ink be used for the signature to avoid mistaking a photocopy for an original.