To learn more about the history and societal problems of ex-felon disenfrancisement the following books are available from Amazon.com.

The Disenfranchisement of Ex-Felons
by Elizabeth Hull
In fourteen states some or all former prisoners who have completed their sentences, their paroles, and the terms of their probation are prohibited from voting. This short book provides an overview of the history, nature, and consequences of denying ex-felons the right to vote. Readers learn of state practices, the arguments that have been used in court houses, legislatures, and the press to justify disenfranchisement, and the attempts to remedy the situation through recourse to state and federal governments. Elizabeth Hull enumerates the disproportionate effect of these policies on African-Americans and the ways current criminal justice practices cause those effects. The book contains an Appendix on the 2004 election

Google Books Link

Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy
by Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen

5.4 million Americans--1 in every 40 voting-age adults--are denied the right to participate in democratic elections because of a past or current felony conviction. In several American states, 1 in 4 black men cannot vote due to a felony conviction. In a country that prides itself on universal suffrage, how did the United States come to deny a voice to such a large percentage of its citizenry? What are the consequences of large-scale disenfranchisement--for election outcomes, for the reintegration of former offenders back into their communities, and for public policy more generally? Locked Outexposes one of the most important, yet little known, threats to the health of American democracy. It reveals the centrality of racial factors in the origins of these laws, and their impact on today's political landscape. Marshalling the first real empirical evidence on the issue to make a case for reform, the authors' groundbreaking analysis will inform all future policy and political debates on the laws governing the political rights of criminals

Google Books Link

California keeps passing bills for state single-payer healthcare, but Ahhhnold won't sign em, and Jerry Brown who wants to be governor doesn't seem to want it badly enough to make a commitment on healthcare. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is encouraged that their current governor has said he probably will sign a single-payer healthcare bill, and the legislature just might pass one. But Minnesota has an angle neither of these other states can claim: a serious candidate for governor who is the state's leading advocate for single-payer.

State Senator John Marty was the Democratic nominee for governor of Minnesota 16 years ago and is making another run for it. My friend Vin Gopal, who's working on Marty's campaign, tells me "Senator John Marty is the real deal. If he gets elected Governor this year, which he has a good shot at, it's a whole new ballgame for the single-payer movement. No other statewide candidate in the country is as committed to the movement as he is."

Marty tells me he's optimistic about bringing single-payer healthcare to Minnesota, and that he has a third of the legislature on board with it at this point. Marty's election campaign can be supported here http://www.facebook.com/l/26ec3;johnmarty.org and the campaign for single-payer in Minnesota can be found here http://www.facebook.com/l/26ec3;muhcc.org and here http://www.facebook.com/l/26ec3;mnhealthplan.org

I don't know about you, but if I paid for a "Respect Choice" fundraising specialty license plate, I'd think I was shelling out to raise money for an organization that actually, you know, respects choice. But in Virginia, they prefer to dupe pro-choice supporters into buying "Trust Women/Respect Choice" license plates that actually deny funding to pro-choice, women-trusting groups.

About half the states in our country already offer "Choose Life" license plates, which unfortunately raise money for groups that don't want to let women choose, and for lying crisis pregnancy centers that manipulate women instead of informing them. In Virginia, pro-choice supporters who want to wear their beliefs on their bumper decided it was high time to fight back with "Trust Women/Respect Choice" plates, which would provide funds for comprehensive reproductive health services and information at Planned Parenthood.

Yet Right Wing Watch points out there's been a ridiculous twist in the House bill authorizing these plates: an amendment has decided to take the funds away from Planned Parenthood, and give them to the Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund.

A bill to create single-payer healthcare in California has passed that state's senate for the third time now. Californians just need to persuade a governor to sign it. Single-payer healthcare bills are advancing in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and a growing list of states, including New Mexico, where State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a long-time supporter of single-payer healthcare, is running for Lieutenant Governor.

Now North Carolina house candidate Marcus Brandon has pledged to introduce a bill to create single-payer healthcare in that state. Brandon, whom I know and like and who worked for Congressman Dennis Kucinich's 2008 presidential campaign, is a candidate in North Carolina House District 60. That's near Greensboro, where I can just picture Marcus sitting at a lunch counter and refusing to be provoked.

Brandon has promised that if he is elected, the first piece of legislation he will introduce will be the "North Carolina Healthcare Act" which will provide universal single-payer healthcare to every citizen of the state.

Brandon says that he remains a supporter of national single-payer healthcare and will continue lobbying for passage of HR 676, Congressman John Conyers' bill:

"The HR 676 fight is definitely not over, but we must now strategically shift the focus to the state level.  When other states see that we can cut the cost of healthcare, streamline our medical industry, and still provide universal coverage to all North Carolinians, then all of the sudden, single-payer health care doesn't look so bad."

Brandon argues that a single-payer system could save over $1.5 billion per year in reduced bureaucracy in the state of North Carolina alone. And he speaks confidently about making this happen:

“North Carolina is poised to be the first state to adopt single-payer, once I am able to introduce it.  North Carolinians are ready for real solutions to healthcare.   North Carolina has the third  highest healthcare cost of any state, while it sags at 37th in average income.  This is a disparity that most North Carolinians feel when they have to think about healthcare.  Every day, as I am knocking on doors to talk to voters, I hear stories of people who cannot afford insurance and become victims of this for-profit industry."

Brandon says his bill is similar to other states' initiatives such as the "Minnesota Health Act" or the "California Universal Healthcare Act."  Brandon points to these two bills as excellent examples of how a single payer healthcare system could be both fiscally sound and provide full coverage.

Brandon served in 2007 and 2008 as Dennis Kucinich’s National Finance Director and Deputy Campaign Manager.  He says that Kucinich inspired him: