LOS ANGELES — Registering to vote — it’s one of those milestones on the route to adulthood — and Lencia Kebede remembers it well.

“I was so excited to finally have the opportunity to be a part of my surroundings, my government, my people, my community,” she recalled. “Knowing that I was very, very passionate about civic engagement, social justice, human rights, and now I’m getting to be a part of it was super empowering for me.”

The Glendale native studied international relations and politics as an undergrad and used to work at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre as an usher. Now she’s back at the historic theatre starring as Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton. But she’s not just singing about democracy, she’s participating by helping people register to vote in the theater lobby.

“Voting is really the only way to get involved,” Kebede said. “It’s a right that we’re so privileged to have, that so many people around the world don’t have. And I think it’s just essential for us to take advantage of that privilege.”

The Pantages was one of various places holding events for National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday. 

According to U.S. Census data from 2020, as many as 1 in 4 Americans who are eligible to vote aren’t registered. 

This nonpartisan civic holiday gets as many eligible people registered as possible, especially young Californians, whom LA County Registrar Dean Logan says can pre-register at age 16 or 17 when they get their license.

“What studies show is that when young people get engaged in the process, when they participate in the election, they become lifelong voters,” Logan explained.

That’s certainly the case for USC student Sara Xiao Stienecker, president of the Trojan Democrats.

“I vote in every single election I could,” she said. “Primaries, ballot measures, everything.”

She helped organize a registration event on campus and says for her, voting is an emotional and powerful thing,

“It means a lot to me,” she explained. “My mom is an immigrant to this country. She’s from China originally. So I was there when she [cast] her first ballot. I’ve gone with her to vote in almost every election since.”   

Meanwhile, at the Pantages, the cast of “Hamilton” was going nonstop, greeting fans and watching as they put their John Hancock on their registration forms.

Among them, Mia Alexis Kim, who just turned 18 and is not discarding her shot to cast a ballot.

“I just want to participate and make a change,” the newly minted voter said. “Even if it’s a small one, I think it’s still important.”

(Spectrum News/ Tara Lynn Wagner)

A huge “Hamilton” fan, she was blown away when cast members came to introduce themselves and help with her paperwork.

“I’m happy you’re registering,” Lebede told her. “That’s awesome.”

“Angelica is my favorite character,” she said, and then apologized to Blaine Alden Krauss, who plays Hamilton.

He loves he is in a musical about the founding of America that also looks like what America looks like today.

“For me,” Krauss explained, “to be playing these characters who had incredible visions, but were still short-sighted because they’re human and probably didn’t even imagine I would be playing them … is really big.”

Democracy in action is something Lebede witnesses night after night on stage and it’s definitely given her a newfound appreciation for the American experiment.

“Especially because Hamilton is an immigrant,” she said. “A lot of our cast members are immigrants. So it’s just inspiring to see what hard work, belief and care for others can lead to. So I feel like a superhero when I do the show.”

History has its eyes on us every election season and she hopes everyone will exercise the revolutionary right that so many generations before us fought and died for.