Eighteen-year-old actress Hayden Panettiere helped Norman Lear co-host the “Declare Yourself” event at the Beverly Hills Post Office, where she and other celebrities encouraged teens to register to vote. In addition to Hayden, Justin Timberlake, Rumer Willis, Chester Bennington, Chris Chaney, and Julianne Hough among others made an appearance at the “Hollywood Celebrates 18″ event.

The purpose of the “Declare Yourself,” which is a nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign was, clearly, to encourage teens to register to vote, namely for the 2008 primaries and general election. “Declare Yourself” re-launched on July Fourth (how appropriate), and past events for the 2004 and 2006 elections encouraged more than 1.2 million people aged 18-29 to register to vote.

Hayden herself spent her birthday registering. Later, she co-hosted the “Declare Yourself” event. She told the press, “As an 18-year-old, I wanted to register so I can vote in the 2008 elections, and ‘Declare Yourself’ makes the process so easy to do. I can’t think of a better way to make a difference in today’s society than by voting to make sure that my voice is heard.”

Hayden is one of what will be four-million 18-year-olds in 2008, all with the power to contribute. Hayden’s presence, along with the presence of the other celebrities, encourages teens - and other young people - to vote, and to have a small say in what happens in our nation. The goals of the events sponsors, (Cricket Communications, Inc, Yahoo, Google, MySpace, Comedy Central, American Eagle Outfitters, Clear Channel, Evite, and GOOD) along with Norman Lear and Hayden Panettiere include getting every single 18-year-old to register to vote in time for the election.

In honor of the “Hollywood Celebrates 18″ event, Chester Bennington performed a remake of Alice Cooper’s song, “I’m Eighteen,” and everyone partook of an enormous guests and celebrities registered and shared the power of partaking in a democratic society. Guests were also 10-foot high birthday cake given the opportunity to see one of the original 200 copies of the “Declaration of Independence.” The night ended with inspirational stories and dancing, which went long into the night.

“Declare Yourself” makes it easy for anyone to register by going online to http://www.declareyourself.com and using their simple registration tool.

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