US voters said no to new data centers almost everywhere

When a municipality in the US has to decide whether a data center can be built, it is normally politicians and officials who make the call. In the November 3, 2026 election, voters in a number of towns got to weigh in themselves, and the answer was almost uniform: no thanks.

According to Scientific American, there were 41 data center-related ballot measures in 10 states. A data center is a large building filled with computers, used to run AI, among other things. According to State Capital Lobbyist, 39 of the measures had been decided by Wednesday evening. In 38 of them, voters restricted development, and in one they supported it.

What did people vote on?

The ballot measures came in several types. The breakdown covers all 50 data center ballot measures in 13 states in 2026, of which 41 were held on Election Day, November 3: 24 bans and moratoriums (temporary halts), 10 advisory questions, 9 referendums on specific projects and 7 rules on approval and zoning.

In Ohio there were 21 ballot measures across 18 municipalities, and all 19 that had been counted went against development. In Illinois, all 7 advisory votes were against data centers. In Wells, Maine, more than 80 percent voted for a 180-day moratorium on data center development.

The one measure that went the data centers' way was in Harwood, North Dakota. There, voters rejected, by roughly 3 to 1, a proposal for additional review of industrial projects. That clears the way for the $3 billion Polaris Forge 2 data center. In Mandan, North Dakota, a vote is planned for December 15 on a ban on data centers over 25 megawatts.

Politicians caught in the crossfire

According to State Capital Lobbyist, data center disputes have triggered 42 recall attempts to remove officials from office, targeting a total of 80 people. On November 3, seven officials were removed, including the mayors of Yukon, Oklahoma, and Urbana, Ohio.

At the governor level, three candidates who made data center regulation a central campaign issue were elected: Gina Hinojosa in Texas, Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia and Amy Acton in Ohio. All three are Democrats. Texas accounts for about a quarter of the data center capacity under development in the US.

The industry's reaction

Shares in AI data center companies fell Wednesday after the election results. OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, has predicted that AI will be the deciding issue in the 2028 presidential election.

The figures are preliminary. The count is based on 39 of 41 decided ballot measures as of Wednesday evening, and other outlets have cited different figures at different times for the number of restrictive measures.