U.S. Justice Dept. warns states to tread carefully in auditing elections

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday issued legal guidance aimed at curbing voting rights abuses in U.S. states such as Arizona, where Republican officials launched a contentious audit in a failed bid to reverse former President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss.

In the guidance, the U.S. Justice Department raises concerns about the "unusual second round of examinations" into 2020 election results cropping up in various states even though none of the prior state recounts had "produced evidence of either wrongdoing or mistakes that casts any doubt on the outcome of the national election results."

Trump has falsely said the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud, and his Republican allies sought on this basis to undo his losses to Biden in key states. Numerous states have passed new Republican-backed voting restrictions in the aftermath of Trump's false claims.

The Justice Department also issued guidance laying out the federal voting rights laws governing elections in a direct response to states such as Georgia that have, among other restrictions, limited early voting and voting by mail.