DECLARE YOURSELF HAILS RECORD-SHATTERING YOUTH TURNOUT ON SUPER TUESDAY

Young voter group celebrates historic participation levels

LOS ANGELES, CA (February 6, 2008) – Declare Yourself, the national nonpartisan, nonprofit youth voter registration initiative, today hailed record-level participation by 18-to-29-year-olds in yesterday’s primaries, which doubled or tripled 2004 youth voting levels in many states. Declare Yourself also confirmed that it had exceeded its announced target of registering more than 300,000 young voters by Super Tuesday.

“Young voters were inspired by the candidates, the closeness of the races, and the issues to turn out in a wave that swamped prior youth voting levels. Young voters are stating loud and clear that it’s cool to care again and are leaving apathy and cynicism behind,” said Marc Morgenstern, Executive Director of Declare Yourself.

Exit polling (Source: CIRCLE) found most primary states tallied significantly higher youth turnout, with Massachusetts, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri and Oklahoma leading the increases. On the Democratic side, voters 18-29 increased their share in every state for which comparable data is available.

Morgenstern added that Declare Yourself received a flood of youth voter registrations through its on-line form in late January and early February, as young people sought to meet state registration deadlines to vote in the Super Tuesday primaries. “The Internet and social networking have made it much easier for young people to navigate the confusing registration process and participate, said Morgenstern. “Use of technology has paid off in these record voting numbers.”

Declare Yourself, founded by television pioneer Norman Lear, further confirmed that it has registered well over 300,000 young people for the 2008 elections through declareyourself.com and dozens of on-line partners, including MySpace.com/declareyourself, Yahoo.com, Facebook.com and Votolatino.org. This accelerated registration pace puts Declare Yourself well on its way to exceed its target of 2 million registrations by the general election.

Declare Yourself registered 1.2 million young voters in the 2004 campaign, helping raise participation from 18-to-25-year-olds by 11 percent over the 2000 election. 2004 tallied the highest levels of youth voter participation in thirty years, but still the lowest of all eligible demographic groups.

About Declare Yourself
Declare Yourself is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to encourage every eligible 18-29-year-old in America to register and vote in the presidential primaries and 2008 presidential election. Using the power of strategic media partnerships, celebrity spokespeople, the sports arena, and most importantly, mobile and Internet technology, Declare Yourself's campaign blankets the landscape of popular culture, as well as universities and high schools, with a simple, clear message: REGISTER and VOTE!

For the 2008 primary season and general election, Declare Yourself is enlisting an unprecedented array of partners including Cricket Wireless, Yahoo!, MySpace, Google, UWIRE, Good Magazine, Clear Channel, Comedy Central, American Eagle Outfitters, Harper Collins, Starbucks, and Voto Latino. Easy registration is available through www.declareyourself.com or by texting VOTE to 55355 on your mobile phone.

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