It is the fall of an election year, which means those over the age of 18 are encouraged to vote and make a difference in the presidential election. Another form of voting promotion took place this summer, and those who participated made quite a difference.
Last week, Carter Robison, a Harding senior from Ocala, Fla., won a Honda Civic LX by 77 votes through the use of social media and word of mouth.
Early this summer, Robison heard a radio advertisement mentioning the Honda of Ocala Facebook Vehicle Giveaway Contest and decided to give it a chance.
His previous car was a 1998 Honda CRV with 230,000 miles on it.
The driving force behind his campaign was his younger sister, junior Katelyn Robison.
“I called Katelyn and asked if she would help me with the contest,” Carter Robison said. “And I think she thought I was crazy at first.”
In early July, Katelyn Robison created a Facebook event page, asking members to vote for Carter once daily.
“I was kind of nervous at first because I didn’t want to nag people,” Katelyn Robison said. “I sent [Facebook] invitations to people and once they started accepting it … I would share it and ask other people to share it and that’s how it worked.”
On Aug. 10, Robison reached first place and remained in that position until Sept. 2, at which point there was no indication of how many votes he was behind his competitor.
“The last day, [a] girl got ahead and everyone was really nervous,” said Zack Jones, a friend of Carter Robison’s.
Several friends and voters posted the contest link on their Facebook pages, hoping to bump Carter Robison to the first place spot once again.
And they did. On Sept. 3, Carter Robison won the Honda of Ocala contest with more than 4,000 votes — just 77 votes more than the second place winner.
“When I found out, I happened to be at work and my mom called me,” Carter Robison said. “I was actually with a customer … and I told her I just won a car so she started freaking out with me.”
On Friday, Sept. 7, Carter Robison drove 15 hours to Ocala, Fla., to pick up his new car.
“The [Honda] guys were extremely nice, and it was kind of surreal at first,” Carter Robison said. “They detailed the car for me before they handed me the keys … and within two hours I was driving off with the car.”
Carter Robison said he is thankful to his sister, Katelyn, for promoting the contest on Facebook since he traveled a lot during the summer.
“Also, the support of Harding was incredible because without the university there is no way I could have done it,” Carter Robison said.
