On 3 November 2026, voters in ten U.S. states decided more than 40 local ballot questions on data centers, and opponents prevailed in nearly all of them on preliminary results. The one locality reported as an exception was Harwood, North Dakota. For universities, national laboratories and research offices that plan AI and high-performance computing capacity, the vote is a signal about local permitting risk, though it does not change any research funding rule.
What happened
According to Route Fifty’s report of 4 November 2026, more than 40 local votes on data centers took place the previous night, and opponents were successful in “virtually all 40 ballot measures across 10 states” on preliminary results. Route Fifty attributes the 40-plus figure and the ten-state total to the preliminary results compiled by the Data Centers on the Ballot tracker, run by Redbud Consulting, which notes that it can trail county election offices.
Route Fifty reports that Ohio had the most votes, with almost 20 towns, cities and counties voting, and that in every Ohio race data center opponents appeared to have been victorious. It also names Emporia, Kansas, where a prohibition passed with just over 60 percent, and Alhambra, California, which was on track to ban data centers with many votes still uncounted. Illinois, Maine and New Jersey are also named among the states.
The exception and the counting caveat
In Harwood, North Dakota, about 75 percent of 430 voters, per the North Dakota secretary of state’s office as cited by Route Fifty, rejected a charter amendment that would have required independent review and a public hearing before large industrial projects, including data centers, were adopted. It would have applied only to future projects, not to the campus already approved there. Route Fifty also notes that some of the votes were advisory and not binding on local officials.
Totals differ between outlets and will move as counts finish, so treat any single ratio as provisional. The figures above are the ones Route Fifty reported; the tracker, not a news summary, is the place to check final results.
Background: how many measures were expected
Before the election, Ballotpedia’s News (21 September 2026) counted 38 local data center measures across 35 jurisdictions in 30 counties in eight states, 34 of them scheduled for the 3 November general election. Ohio led with 20 measures across 17 jurisdictions. Ballotpedia reported that 31 of the 38 qualified through citizen petitions and seven were referred by local governing bodies, and that nine were advisory questions. The post-election counts reported afterwards are larger than that pre-election figure, and this page does not attempt to reconcile the two.
What it means for researchers, universities and research offices
The sources above report local ballot outcomes only. They do not mention universities, national laboratories or research computing. The following points are editorial interpretation, not findings of those sources.
- Siting risk is local and political. Facilities that need rezoning, charter changes or development agreements can be stopped by a local vote. Institutions planning new on-campus or adjacent compute halls should check whether their jurisdiction can put such questions to voters and how its zoning process works.
- Commercial capacity may be harder to add near you. Researchers who rely on cloud or colocated AI capacity depend on where providers can build. Research offices negotiating long-term compute commitments may want contract terms that account for delayed or relocated capacity.
- Community engagement becomes part of the plan. Research infrastructure proposals that involve substantial power or water demand may benefit from early public consultation. Route Fifty’s coverage of the exit polling notes that NBC polling found 56 percent of voters called AI and data centers a crucial or major factor.
- Nothing here changes grant rules. This is a local land-use story. Funder policies on computing costs and infrastructure are unaffected by it.
For related background, see the CASRAI pages on data management plans and research data management.
Sources
- Route Fifty, “Voters reject data centers in local ballot initiatives”, 4 November 2026 (read 12 November 2026)
- Data Centers on the Ballot, tracker by Redbud Consulting (read 12 November 2026)
- Ballotpedia News, “Ohio leads states in number of local ballot measures on data centers for 2026”, 21 September 2026 (read 12 November 2026)
