Amid the broader midterm election, a number of measures to limit or block the development of data centers have been voted in across US towns and regions.
This article will be updated as more races are called and votes tallied.
Ohio
Ohio was home to the largest number of data center-specific votes, with at least 14 passed bans or other restrictions.
Granville (Licking County) voted in favor of banning data centers in the village, as did Hubbard (Trumbull County), Piqua (Miami County), Upper Sandusky (Wyandot County), and Urbana (Champaign County).
Conneaut (Ashtabula County), Defiance (Defiance County), Oregon (Lucas County), and Sunbury (Delaware County) voted to ban data centers with a power consumption above 25MW.
Grove City (Franklin County) voted to require a public vote on data center projects that are more than 50 acres, 20MW+, or consume 500,000 gallons or more water a day.
Monroe Township (Adams County) has voted to adopt township zoning for unincorporated areas, which would allow locals to have greater control over the development of major projects, including data centers. Sprigg Township (Adams County) similarly voted for this limit.
Pataskala (Licking County) voted to ban large-scale data centers, as did Trenton (Butler County).
Perry (Lake County) voted to require hyperscale developers that seek tax incentives to set financial guarantees.
In Ashville (Pickaway County), a term sheet for two EdgeConneX data centers was voted against.
In Wilmington (Clinton County), the rezoning of four parcels of land to light industrial for data center development was voted down.
Maine
In North Berwick (York County), locals voted in favor of banning data centers of 25,000 square feet (2,300 sq m) or more.
Peru (Oxford County), Wells (York County), and Eliot (York) voted for an 180-day moratorium on data centers.
Wiscasset (Lincoln County) voted to impose a six-month moratorium.
Sabattus (Androscoggin County) has voted for a moratorium on data centers of 10,000 sq ft (930 sq m) or 20MW or more, until May 2027.
Illinois
In Bloomington (McLean County), a vote in favor of an advisory data center moratorium for large-scale projects. The city did not specify the length of such a moratorium.
Morgan County voted to restrict data center construction.
Asked whether officials should permit data centers, voters said no in Chouteau Township (Madison County), Granite City Township (Madison), Nameoki Township (Madison), Venice Township (Madison County), and Joliet (Will County).
Kansas
In El Dorado (Butler County), voters approved a ban on 'high impact' data center development and large battery energy storage systems in city limits for ten years. Americus (Lyon County) has voted to ban both such projects, but without a timeframe.
Emporia (Lyon County) voted to ban data centers above 10MW and 100,000 gallons of water a day. However, the court has yet to decide whether the vote has power.
Similarly, a court is yet to decide whether a voted-for ban in Ottawa (Franklin County) can block data centers larger than 25MW.
California
Alhambra (Los Angeles County) has voted to ban data centers in the city.
Florida
Edgewater (Volusia County) has voted for a charter amendment against both new data centers and expansions of existing sites.
New Jersey
Downe Township (Cumberland County) voted against a referendum question that asks whether residents support data center development.
Nevada
Boulder City (Clark County) voted against a measure to allow data centers in the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area.
Wisconsin
Janesville (Rock County) voted in favor of a public vote on developing a data center at the former General Motors/Janesville Automotive Transport Company (GM/JATCO), should the project cost be more than $450 million.
The outlier - North Dakota
A small vote in favor of data centers came in Harwood (Cass County), where locals voted down a measure to add an additional review before industrial projects, data centers included, can be approved.
A number of these measures were tracked with reference to datacentersontheballot.
The votes come as candidates running on anti-data-center pledges swept to victory in the US midterm elections. In the gubernatorial races, 26 candidates across 21 of the 36 states up for grabs ran on tickets promising anti-data center legislation.
In exit polls, 56 percent of voters said that AI data centers were a crucial or major factor in their Congressional vote decision.
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