White House says online election recount petition facts faulty WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- The White House Wednesday rejected an online petition requesting a 2012 presidential vote recount, saying the election was "decided fairly and democratically." The Obama administration, which officially responds to any petition on its "We the People" website that garners at least 100,000 signatures, said in a statement that while those who signed the petition might be disappointed by the election's outcome -- in which Obama won a second term by defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney -- "this election was decided fairly and democratically, and there's absolutely no evidence to suggest otherwise." The administration shot down the petition's contention that Ohio's Wood County has 98,213 eligible voters but had 106,258 votes cast -- pointing out that the Ohio secretary of state's records show the county had 108,014 registered voters at election time and only 64,342 actually voted. Of the votes cast, President Obama won 50.98 percent, which is a great deal less than 108 percent. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney won 46.17 percent of the vote," the administration's statement said. In fact, there isn't a county in Ohio that came anywhere close to reporting more total votes than it had registered voters. Across the state, the county-by-county percentage of voter turnout based on registration ranged from 53 percent to 79 percent. The statewide average was 71 percent. Those aren't numbers we got out of thin air -- again, they're straight from the official election results released by Ohio's Secretary of State. The statement went on to make the point that while in a nationwide election "there are always going to be irregularities and complaints," it is "unacceptable that citizens in many states had to wait in lines that lasted hours before they could vote." The administration's statement encouraged petitioners to work in a bipartisan fashion to "help tackle the challenges that we can all agree our country faces." You don't have to support President Obama or his vision for this country. But you have to acknowledge that all Americans, even those with whom you disagree, have the right to help to set our nation's course," the statement said. That's a truth that unites us all as citizens, and it sets up a basic agreement -- one that makes us an example for other nations, which justifies our democratic experiment: the understanding that the elections we lose are still legitimate. We're a country full of those who hold passionate beliefs. We often fail to see eye to eye, and just as often, the debates those disagreements spark help to lead us forward -- to solutions that make America stronger.