The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office told a federal judge Wednesday that requiring new voters to show a birth certificate or passport is reasonable and necessary to protect the integrity of state elections.

The law, which took effect last November, requires all first-time registrants to present documents to prove their citizenship — representing the strictest voter registration policies in the country. It quickly drew a court challenge from voting advocacy groups, who argue that there’s no evidence that ineligible voters are participating in New Hampshire elections, and the new law is disenfranchising eligible residents.

“The impact of this law has already begun,” Jacob van Leer, an attorney with the ACLU, told Judge Samantha Elliott Wednesday in Concord. Van Leer cited reports that dozens of people who attempted to register at the polls during Town Meetings in March were initially turned away because they lacked documentary proof of their citizenship.

The fight over the future of New Hampshire’s citizenship requirement comes as Republicans in Congress are pushing to enact similar rules nationwide. That measure, known as the SAVE Act, is likely to face challenges in the Senate, where Democrats have enough votes to block the bill.

Under the New Hampshire law, anyone seeking to register to vote must have documents in hand proving their citizenship, ending a decades-old policy that allowed new voters to sign legally binding affidavits if they failed to bring certain documents to the polls on Election Day.

Those behind the court challenge heard Wednesday include the Coalition forOpen Democracy and the League of Women Voters, as well as five individual plaintiffs. Another separate lawsuit filed by the New Hampshire Youth Movement makes similar allegations.

Wednesday’s hearing centered on whether the case should be dismissed at the state’s request, or if it should head to trial.

“This is a policy choice made by the people of New Hampshire,” said Michael DeGrandis, with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office. He said the groups behind the lawsuit failed to provide concrete proof that the new law is overly burdensome.

Much of the hearing focused on whether the plaintiffs have the legal standing to challenge the documentary proof of citizenship requirement. Elliott, the judge presiding over the case, declined to rule on the matter immediately, but noted that she would make a decision as soon as possible. A trial in the case is already scheduled for next February.

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