(a) No document submitted to the Office of the Secretary of State shall be required to be notarized. Signing a document submitted to the secretary of state constitutes “acknowledgment” as defined in section 358.52, subdivision 2, and “verification upon oath or affirmation” as defined in section 358.52, subdivision 3. A person who signs a document submitted to the secretary of state without authority to sign that document or who signs the document knowing that the document is false in any material respect is subject to the penalties of perjury set forth in section 609.48.

(b) Any document submitted to the Office of the Secretary of State online may be signed by any person as agent of any person whose signature is required by law. The signing party must indicate on the application that the person is acting as the agent of the person whose signature would be required and that the person has been authorized to sign on behalf of the applicant. The name of the person signing, entered on the online application, constitutes a valid signature by such an agent.

(c) Any document relating to a filing by a business entity or assumed name, or the filing of a document under chapter 270C, 272, 336, or 336A, submitted to the Office of the Secretary of State on paper may be signed by any person as agent of any person whose signature is required by law. The signing party must indicate on the document that it is acting as the agent of the person whose signature would be required and that it has been authorized to sign on behalf of that person.