We are fighting for democracy abroad, but did you know that 5.3 million Americans are barred from the polls?

How would it feel to work and pay taxes, and be excluded from the democratic process?

How can you help change this?

This site, and a new film called Democracy's Ghosts, can help you answer those questions. In a nation where Presidential power has been won with just a handful of votes, don't we owe it to ourselves to ensure that every vote counts? And what is to be gained by cutting people out of the decision-making process?

From the cradle of the civil rights movement in Selma, Alabama, to the wind-blown plains of South Dakota's Native American reservations, to Florida's cumbersome rights restoration process, this 34-minute film from the ACLU and Off Ramp Films spends time with people who are living their lives as legal ghosts because of felony convictions. Their stories are complemented and enriched by interviews with experts and well-known personalities, among them evangelist Chuck Colson, actor Charles Dutton, civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis, and Harvard Professor Lani Guiniier.

Explore this site to order the film, learn more about the issue, and find a range of accompanying resources.