The 2011 election is upon us and OneAmerica Votes has you covered.

Many important decisions will be made at both the state and  local level, from initiatives that impact access to public transportation and the safety of our communities to local races where candidates have clearly distinguished themselves as leaders on issues of importance to immigrants and refugees.

One thing that’s clear from the movement of pro-immigrant legislation in some areas and anti-immigrant legislation in others is this: Who we elect to represent us matters.

Read OneAmerica Votes’ Initiative and Candidate Endorsements.

Thankfully, in some key races, OneAmerica Votes has done the work interviewing candidates, asking them tough questions about their priorities, and how they will represent immigrants during their time in office. Now, we’re providing you-the voter-with our recommendations. Whether our picks line up with yours, the most important thing is to fill out your ballot and send it in by Tuesday, November 8.

Thanks for your participation in our democracy!

To learn more about what other progressive organizations are saying around the state, visit the 2011 Progressive Voter Guide.

With Tuesday’s elections in the books and votes still being counted, OneAmerica Votes has begun its work evaluating the effectiveness of its GOTV program.

Over the course of the last few months, OneAmerica Votes had more than 160,000 contacts with registered voters in Washington State, including a group of more than 25,000 immigrant voters that received phone calls, door-to-door canvassing and four direct mail pieces. Within that universe of 25,000 immigrant voters there were more than 17,000 Latino voters OneAmerica Votes was working to turn out. Based on preliminary numbers, those efforts to mobilize Latino voters in support of Patty Murray, pro-immigrant federal and state candidates, and the ballot initiatives are paying off in votes.

After controlling for partisanship and likelihood to vote, Latino voters within the OneAmerica Votes target universe are turning out at between 5% to 7% higher than Latinos who were not contacted by OneAmerica Votes. In addition, OneAmerica Votes voters as a whole were turning out primarily for Patty Murray (70.0%), with Latinos supporting Murray at an even higher rate (74.4%).

The following is a breakdown by likelihood to vote of voter turnout thus far in the election for Latino voters who were part of the control group and for those who were called, canvassed and contacted via direct mail by OneAmerica Votes and its volunteers (please note, these results are based on preliminary analysis):

Low-Medium Propensity Latino Voters

Control Group: 10.8%

OAV Universe: 15.9%

Differential: +5.1%

Medium Propensity Latino Voters

Control Group: 23.1%

OAV Universe: 28.6%

Differential: +5.5%

High Medium Propensity Latino Voters

Control Group: 37.1%

OAV Universe: 43.0%

Differential: +5.9%

Very High Propensity Latino Voters

Control Group: 54.4%

OAV Universe: 61.5%

Differential: 7.1%

Most ballots still remain in the hands of voters, with the last day to cast your ballot looming in six days (November 2nd). Based on our conversations with voters over the last weeks, there is still a lot of confusion about the initiatives and their impact on our communities. Instead of skipping the ballot initiatives, voters should educate themselves about the impact of the ballot measures on our communities by reading our one-page summary of the ballot initiatives to learn about the impact of these measures on immigrant communities. For our ballot guide in seven different languages, visit our endorsement page.

Your votes on the ballot initiatives matter and will impact the health of our families and communities for years to come. They will determine funding levels for health care programs and how big your kids’ classes are. With that in mind, we urge voters to support I-1098, which will make our tax system more fair while generating $2 billion for education and health, and oppose I-1053, I-1082, I-1100/1105 and I-1107, measures that will harm our communities and result in devastating cuts to core services.

The picture above is a thank you note from a voter who received our ballot guide and used it to determine their votes on the initiatives. It reads: “Thank you! This was very helpful. Happy you did not send it any earlier because I would have probably misplaced it!” Listen to the person who wrote this card, find our guide helpful and, by all means, don’t misplace your ballot or your vote on the initiatives!

If you are looking for more information on the ballot initiatives, you can also visit our friends at Protect Washington.

OneAmerica Votes’ drive to engage and mobilize immigrant voters in this year’s elections continues as it approaches its goal of making more than 162,000 contacts with voters in the upcoming election through direct mail, phonebanking and canvassing efforts. More than 150 volunteers, including youth, immigrants and U.S. citizens, have been putting their energy toward making sure that those in their communities who are eligible to vote are voting.

In just its first year as an advocacy and political organization, OneAmerica Votes is engaging in the largest mobilization of immigrant voters in the state’s history. Watching volunteers and eligible voters engage in the democratic process has been exciting and has developed leadership skills within community groups across the state that will be critical to expanding the power of immigrant voters in this and future elections.

OneAmerica Votes, as an advocacy organization first and foremost, is committed to advocating for comprehensive immigration reform and to working to elect candidates of any political party that can find common ground in creating solutions to our nation’s biggest problems, most notably a fix to our broken immigration system. In addition, OneAmerica Votes advocates on ballot initiatives and other issues that impact immigrant communities.

With 162,000 contact nearly in the books and thousands more to come in future years, OneAmerica Votes continues to organize and increase the political voice of immigrant voters in Washington State.