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Data centers hit a wall at the ballot box

By Diana Goovaerts Nov 4, 2026 12:47pm

data centers data center regulatory environment

Ballot box of no — Voters had something to say about data centers in the latest U.S. election. (CoPilot for FierceNetwork)

U.S. voters pushed back on data center development in the 2026 election
Ohio data center projects faced major setbacks
Elon Musk quipped that his proposed space-based data centers look like a good idea right about now

It wasn’t just candidates that were on the ballot in the latest U.S. election. Dozens of localities also had a total of 41 data center measures on the agenda, and voters from Florida to Maine, New Jersey to Illinois resoundingly rejected new facilities looking to come to town.

In Edgewater, Florida, voters approved a measure (Amendment #4) to codify in the city charter a data center ban that was passed by city leaders in September. Meanwhile, citizens in four towns in Maine passed restrictions on data center development, with three of those short-term moratoriums.

Ohio

Ohio proved a hotbed of data center-related election activity, with ballot questions in at more than a dozen municipalities. In Wilmington, voters shot down four zoning ordinances that would have cleared the way for 545 acres to be rezoned for data center use. An effort in Piqua to recall three commissioners who had approved a Meta data center succeeded, as did an amendment restricting data center development in the city.

Illinois

Illinois voters in Joliet, Granite City, Nameoki, Venice and Chouteau voted against measures which would advise local officials to approve new data center permits, while residents in Bloomington and Morgan approved new restrictions on new data center construction.

Kansas

In Kansas, citizens in El Dorado and Emporia similarly voted to block the construction of large data centers.

Wisconsin

Meanwhile, Janesville, Wisconsin approved a measure that would require voter approval before the city can greenlight redevelopment of a former General Motors manufacturing site which was being eyed for a data center.

Notable rejections

The rejections in Ohio are notable given the state has emerged as a focal point for new data center construction in recent years. Likewise, the results in Midwestern states like Illinois and Kansas follow an uptick data center activity in those areas as developers chase available power.

The results flew in the face of an October poll from the American Infrastructure Alliance, which claimed 64% of voters across party lines were in favor of allowing data center construction provided operators commit to energy and environmental protections. The AIA counts CoreWeave, Digital Realty, Open AI, QTS, Blackstone and SoftBank among its members.

As the counts rolled in, Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX is one of several to propose putting data centers in orbit, couldn’t resist weighing in. “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” he wrote on X.

It wasn’t all bad news, though. Voters in Harwood, North Dakota rejected a measure that would have required the city to seek additional review before approving industrial developments, including data centers.