Rep. Jared Golden Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Rep. Jared Golden was one of four House Democrats to cross party lines and support legislation to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.

Critics say the SAVE, or Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, Act will make it harder for people to vote if their last names no longer match their birth certificates, including married women who have changed their names.

But Golden, D-2nd District, downplayed those concerns, saying the bill would accept several different forms of identification and would direct states to establish a process to register in cases when a voter’s last names do not match.

“Life changes like marriage should never affect someone’s eligibility to vote, so the SAVE Act requires states to have a plan for accommodating people whose current name differs from their birth name,” Golden said in a written statement. “Maine’s leaders work hard to keep our elections fair and I’m confident in their ability to continue doing so.”

Acceptable documents include valid U.S. passports, U.S. military IDs with a service record indicating citizenship and other government-issued photo identifications that show the U.S. as the place of birth, including a birth certificate, a final adoption decree, naturalization or citizenship certificates and certain tribal identification cards issued by the Department of Homeland Security. In Maine, Real ID cards do not list state citizenship status and could not be used to satisfy the requirements under the bill.

States would be required to establish a process for those who cannot prove citizenship, including allowing them to sign “an attestation under penalty of perjury” that they are a citizen and eligible to vote in a federal election.

It also directs the state to establish “a process under which an applicant can provide such additional documentation to the appropriate election official of the State as may be necessary to establish that the applicant is a citizen of the United States in the event of a discrepancy with respect to the applicant’s documentary proof of United States citizenship.”

Golden voted in support of the same bill last year, but it was never taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Project Democracy, a left-of-center nonprofit, blasted the bill, saying it will be difficult for local elections officials to comply with the new mandates and calling the provisions “a dangerous solution in search of a problem” because noncitizen voting in federal elections rarely occurs.

“The SAVE Act would throw up costly barriers to those seeking to vote and threaten election administrators with criminal penalties if they cannot meet its unworkable — and unfunded — mandates,” policy strategist Holly Idelson said in a written statement. “Congress, and also state legislators eyeing copycat state bills, should turn away from these wrong-headed efforts. Instead, lawmakers should provide sufficient funding to enable election officials to continue their work to provide safe, accurate and efficient elections.”

The bill would essentially codify new voter requirements established in an executive order issued last week by President Donald Trump.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows called Trump’s executive order unconstitutional because elections are run by states, not the federal government. And Attorney General Aaron Frey joined a multistate lawsuit challenging the order.

Bellows also issued a written statement Thursday criticizing the House-approved bill.

“Maine elections are already free, safe, and secure, and the SAVE Act will do nothing but make it harder for rural voters, voters who have changed their names, or younger voters to register to vote and cast their ballots,” Bellows said. “It is disappointing to see D.C. politicians legislating based on misinformation, rather than helping local election officials continue to do our jobs well.”

The American Civil Liberties Union said the bill is “a dangerous and unnecessary attack on voting rights that could block millions of eligible citizens from voting.” The group said proof of citizenship requirements in Kansas purged more than 30,000 eligible voters and were struck down in federal court. The SAVE Act, it said, could impact 69 million women who have changed their names.

It’s already against the law for noncitizens to vote in a federal election and the consequence can be deportation. But there is no federal law prohibiting states or municipalities from allowing noncitizens to vote. Currently, three U.S. municipalities and the District of Columbia allow some form of noncitizen voting on local matters. Portland has debated whether to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, but has rejected the idea.

“The right to vote in American elections should be exclusive to American citizens,” said Golden, who represents a district that Trump won by 9 points last fall. “Requiring people to prove citizenship when registering to vote is a simple way to ensure that’s happening across the country.”

But Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, voted against the SAVE Act, which ultimately cleared the lower chamber with a 220-208 vote, with five members absent.

In a video posted online, Pingree said the bill runs contrary to Maine’s efforts to make voting as easy as possible, including allowing people to register to vote on Election Day. She said the bill sought to “suppress the vote in this country,” including people whose names don’t match their birth certificates.

About half of Americans do not have a passport, she said.

“The idea behind this, honestly, is to make it harder to vote,” Pingree said. “If your name is not the same as the one on your birth certificate, you’re not allowed to use it. So this just spells obstacle. This spells, how do we make it difficult to vote — how do we try to suppress the vote in this country.”