Key points
- At least 33 data center limits passed or were leading
- Trenton, Ohio, approved a ban aimed at an Amazon plan
- A review measure near an Applied Digital site appears to have failed
Voters backed limits on data centers across the country on November 3, with at least 33 measures passing or leading, Stateline reported.
Trenton, Ohio, passed a ban aimed at an Amazon (AMZN) campus, though the site sits outside city limits. In Harwood, North Dakota, a review measure that grew out of an Applied Digital (APLD) project appears to have failed.
The results remain unofficial. Ballotpedia tracked 41 data center measures in 10 states: 28 to limit development and 13 to allow it. As of the morning of November 4, its results page showed counts for 35. All 35 went against data centers, by our count, including advisory questions that aren't binding.
Amazon shares were at $261.81 in premarket trading as of 9:21 a.m. ET on November 4, up from the previous close of $250.69. Applied Digital was at $17.03, down from $17.81.
Six votes tied to real projects
Most of the measures were preventive or advisory. These six touch a named developer or a specific site:
| Place | Result | Who's involved | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton, Ohio | Ban over 25 MW passed, 80% | Amazon Web Services | Applies only inside city limits |
| Sunbury, Ohio | Ban of 25 MW or more passed, 79% | Possible Amazon project | Project's fate is unclear |
| Ashville, Ohio | Agreement rejected, 82% | EdgeConneX | Reverses the village's deal on two data centers |
| Wilmington, Ohio | Four rezonings rejected, 80% | Ardent | About 546 acres stay rural residential |
| Harwood, North Dakota | Review measure appears to have failed | Applied Digital | Project was approved in 2025; no report says the measure reaches it |
| Janesville, Wisconsin | Voter approval requirement passed, 62% | Former GM/JATCO site | Large deals for the site need a public vote |
Amazon's Trenton plans aren't dead
The Trenton vote looks worse for Amazon than it is. The ban covers only land inside the city, and the planned AWS site sits just outside it, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Trenton withdrew its September petition to annex that land from two neighboring townships.
The next test comes on November 10, when Butler County holds a hearing on a St. Clair Township zoning resolution that would ban data centers there. The Trenton ban also likely won't touch a four-building AWS campus already under construction nearby, Fortune reported. The ban was aimed at a separate 18-building plan.
Wilmington shows why the details matter. The four rezonings there sit next to or near a proposed AWS campus, but the prospective buyer was Ardent, a real estate developer affiliated with TAC Data Centers. The votes don't rule on Amazon's site.
Applied Digital's project came first
Harwood's review measure appears to be the exception, though no vote count had been posted as of the morning of November 4. The one win reported for data center supporters came in North Dakota, and Harwood's was the state's only measure on the November 3 ballot.
The measure would have required independent review and a public hearing before Harwood approved large industrial projects. Its backers wanted more transparency after the mayor signed a nondisclosure agreement with Applied Digital. "A $3 billion decision coming into a community of 800 people shouldn't have took three weeks to do," resident Michael Swartz, who drafted the measure, told Bloomberg. Harwood approved the project in 2025, and construction started soon after, so the measure may not have reached it either way. We haven't seen a report saying it would. The company's site there already has a roughly 15-year, $5 billion lease with an unnamed investment-grade hyperscaler, according to our AI compute commitments tracker.
The money is the part to watch
The buildout's financing assumes sites get built. Our AI debt tracker lists a $14.75 billion construction loan for the Lighthouse campus in Port Washington, Wisconsin, where Oracle (ORCL) is the tenant. Voters there approved a measure in April requiring a public vote on large tax-increment districts, 66% to 34%. That doesn't stop the campus, but it shows the same fight reaching a site with lenders behind it.
Local opposition blocked or delayed 75 projects worth about $130 billion in the first quarter, Data Center Watch counted. In Ohio, more than 125 local moratoriums were already active before the November 3 vote.
Two December votes come next. Clarksville, Arkansas, votes on December 1 on up to $55 billion of data center bonds, which officials say the private companies would repay. Mandan, North Dakota, votes on December 15 on a ban at 25 megawatts or more. Backers of a statewide Ohio ban are also aiming for the 2027 ballot.
Vote shares are unofficial. The results page showed Wilmington and Granville, Ohio, with Yes and No figures that didn't match local results, so we used the Wilmington News Journal's county totals and local reports of Granville's ban passing.
