[rprasad]

The National Tobacco Association claims that cigarretes aren't cancerous. The secretaries of state license notaries, so this is no different than an interested trade group pushing the economic interests of its members.

Despite the NASS stance on out-of-state notarization, the states themselves, and the courts, actually get to decide whether an out-of-state notarization can be used in the jurisdiction. Many routinely reject out-of-state notarizations which fail to satisfy the standards for notarizations within that state. (Federal courts are different--they will accept notarizations if the notarization would be valid under the laws of the forum state.)

[mchusma]

Comparing the Association of Secretaries of State to the Tobacco lobby is misleading. The Secretaries of State represent the state, and their opinion that out-of-state notarizations are valid everywhere means the regulators are saying they think this is true. In other words, in your tobacco analogy, Secretaries of State are closer to the FDA than the Tobacco Association.