Determined to make their mark on Election Day, Illinois immigrants have turned it up this year.

Grassroots organizers registered 24,000 new voters, many of whom will vote in some of the nation's most high-profile congressional races. Community groups chased big bucks to conduct widespread voter outreach. This new wave of organizing -- coupled with frustration over workplace raids and deportations -- is expected to spur an unprecedented showing at the polls Nov. 4.

To take the guesswork out of how local immigrants are voting, Illinois Immigrant Election Central will conduct exit polls throughout the day tomorrow. Univision Radio, which is partnering with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) on the project, will then broadcast the results that evening.

In the high-profile 10th and 11th Congressional District races -- where an emerging immigrant electorate may help tip the scales in the Democrats' direction -- the polls are sure to be of keen interest to journalists, pundits, and politicians. In the north suburban 10th District contest, for example, the biggest challenge to GOP Rep. Mark Kirk's questionable lead could come from immigrants who make up 20 percent of eligible voters.

High school seniors from across the region were trained by Univision to collect the data. They'll survey voters at 30 key precincts in heavily populated immigrant communities, such as Waukegan, Joliet, and Aurora.

"This was never done before," ICIRR's Catherine Salgado said of the exclusive polling of the immigrant community. "Now we'll know who's voting, who are they voting for, and what are the issues they care about."