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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Early this summer, Robison heard a radio advertisement mentioning the Honda of Ocala Facebook Vehicle Giveaway Contest and decided to give it a chance.<\/p>\n
His previous car was a 1998 Honda CRV with 230,000 miles on it.<\/p>\n
The driving force behind his campaign was his younger sister, junior Katelyn Robison.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
In early July, Katelyn Robison created a Facebook event page, asking members to vote for Carter once daily.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“The last day, [a] girl got ahead and everyone was really nervous,” said Zack Jones, a friend of Carter Robison’s.<\/p>\n
Several friends and voters posted the contest link on their Facebook pages, hoping to bump Carter Robison to the first place spot once again.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
On Friday, Sept. 7, Carter Robison drove 15 hours to Ocala, Fla., to pick up his new car.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Carter Robison said he is thankful to his sister, Katelyn, for promoting the contest on Facebook since he traveled a lot during the summer.<\/p>\n
“Also, the support of Harding was incredible because without the university there is no way I could have done it,” Carter Robison said.<\/p>\n
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