Voters overwhelmingly voted against data center development on 41 ballot measures across 10 states, a sign of the strength of the backlash against the industry.
As of Wednesday, all 28 ballot measures that would restrict data center development were on track to pass, except for one measure in Harwood, North Dakota. All 13 measures that would facilitate data center construction were on track to fail, according to Ballotpedia.
In Ohio, where 21 data center-related measures were on ballots in jurisdictions across the state, voters clearly signaled disapproval of development. Several municipalities approved measures that outright ban data center development, such as Urbana, Trenton, Upper Sandusky, and the village of Granville. Measures to prohibit data centers that exceed 25 megawatts of power usage passed in the cities of Conneaut, Defiance, and Sunbury, and were leading in votes in the city of Oregon.
