Voters across nine states approved restrictions on data centers in more than 30 localities on November 3, Semafor reported. The successful measures ranged from temporary development freezes to outright prohibitions and restrictions targeting individual projects.
Ballotpedia counted 41 measures in 10 states on the November 3 ballot. By Wednesday, with most results in, development had won just once, in Harwood, N.D., where voters rejected extra review of industrial projects. An NBC News exit poll found 76% of voters would oppose a new data center in their community, while 56% called AI and data centers a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress.
Read more: Microsoft Launches Largest India Data Center as Azure Expands to Four Regions
Ohio Votes Target Specific Projects
Ohio supplied 21 of the country's 41 measures, spread across 18 municipalities, and voters in all 18 passed bans or other restrictions. Each of the five central Ohio communities voting on data-center measures turned down development. All Ohio results stay unofficial until county boards certify them.
In Ashville, almost 82% of about 1,800 voters chose to repeal the village's agreement with EdgeConneX, which covered two data centers and a natural gas plant on about 195 acres. Construction has already started, though, and the referendum does not halt it.
Trenton banned data centers using more than 25 megawatts with 80% of the vote, which raises questions about a 250-megawatt facility Prologis is building in the city's industrial park. An 18-building Amazon Web Services campus planned just outside the city could still go ahead, because the ban stops at the city limits, but a St. Clair Township zoning ban on data centers goes to a Butler County hearing on November 10.
Bans And Conditions Take Different Forms
Pataskala voters amended their charter to prohibit large data centers. In Perry, more than 87% supported requiring financial guarantees from developers seeking tax concessions; the measure also established operating conditions for hyperscalers seeking those concessions.
Wilmington voters rejected rezoning in four referendums connected to development proposals, with opposition around 80%. Those proposals would have changed four rural residential properties to light industrial use. Outside Ohio, Edgewater, Fla., overwhelmingly backed a ban written into its city charter, a proposed ban in Alhambra, Calif., appeared on course to pass with 82% support, and more than 80% of voters in Wells, Me., approved a retroactive 180-day moratorium.
Ohio entered the election with 125 local moratoriums and more than 200 facilities operating, ranking fifth nationally by data-center project count. State figures put planned investment in Ohio AI infrastructure at up to $40 billion by 2030.
The political campaign extended beyond local ballot measures: more than 130 Democratic campaigns for federal office or governor ran advertising opposing tech companies or data centers, one analysis found. Banks and asset managers increasingly treat community opposition as a credit risk, while hyperscalers are stepping up hiring for community relations roles.
Sunbury appeared to back a prohibition covering facilities needing at least 25 megawatts, with its unofficial count complete. The future of a potential Amazon project targeted by that measure remains unclear.
