Ahead of Election Day, Latinos were polled on their intent on voting during the midterm elections, and immigration appeared to be a concern.

The nationwide poll, including surveys in the 10 "competitive" states that could shift the Democrat-controlled Senate to Republican -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas -- found 45 percent of Latino voters stating immigration reform was the most important issue currently facing the Latino community.

Hispanics participating in the survey also said immigration reform should be an issue for politicians to address.

Immigration was also the top issue for all competitive states except Florida, which ranked second behind jobs and the economy. For the remaining competitive states, jobs and the economy was then the second most important issue. Overall, jobs and the economy was the second most important issue with 34 percent of the poll. Education ranked third with 21 percent, narrowly ahead of health care and Medicaid with 17 percent.

Immigration was not the sole reason Latino to vote on Election Day. According to Latino Decisions, a "plurality" of Latino voters said their vote was to support the Latino community, which was a sentiment shared by 37 percent of respondents. Meanwhile, 34 percent of Latinos said their vote was to support a Democratic candidate, ahead of 16 percent supporting a Republican candidate.

Nearly two-thirds of Latino respondents had immigration on their minds as 33 percent claimed the topic was the "most" important issue and 34 percent said it was "one of the important issues." Nineteen percent of Latinos said immigration is "somewhat important," while 9 percent claimed the issue is "not really important."

The survey also asked respondents if they know somebody that is an undocumented immigrant, which may range from a family member, friend and co-worker. With 58 percent, Latinos said they know an undocumented immigrant. The rate was notably high in North Carolina, which reached 66 percent, while Colorado and Georgia tied at 65 percent, each. The other competitive states with a Latino knowing an undocumented immigrant reached 55 percent or higher, except Florida.

Overall, 35 percent of Latinos stated they didn't know an undocumented immigrant, while 7 percent were unsure. Most of the "no" responses came from Florida, which surpasses its "yes" rates with 47 percent to 43 percent, respectively.

According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), 25.2 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the 2014 midterm elections, which is a record rate and equates to 11 percent of all eligible voters in the U.S.

The poll was conducted by Latino Decisions for America's Voice, Latino Victory Project, and the National Council of La Raza, AFL-CIO, Mi Familia Vota, NALEO Educational Fund and People For the American Way, comprising 4,914 Latinos on the eve of Election Day 2014.

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.