Voters Turned Down AI Data Centres in 40 of 41 Local Ballots
Tuesday's US midterms put AI data centres on 41 local ballots in 10 states. Voters sided against them in 40, and 76% told an exit poll they'd oppose one nearby.
AI data centres were on 41 local ballots across 10 US states on Tuesday. Voters sided against them in 40. In an exit poll, three in four said they would oppose a new one in their own community.
Ballotpedia, which tracks local ballot measures, listed the 41 votes the day before the election. Of those, 28 would limit data centres through bans, pauses or new approval rules, and 13 would make building easier, mostly through rezoning or non-binding votes of support. Ohio held 21, more than half.
Voters backed the limits, or rejected the pro-building side, in every case but one, according to Ballotpedia and results gathered by CNBC. The exception was Harwood, North Dakota, where voters turned down extra review of large industrial projects, data centres included.
What people were voting on
A data centre is a large building full of computer chips. The ones built for AI need huge amounts of electricity, and many use water for cooling. Several of the measures set limits on exactly that. One in Kansas bans data centres that use more than 25 megawatts of power. Others ask for a public vote before any project above set land, water or power thresholds can go ahead.
Some margins were lopsided. In Wells, Maine, more than 80% of voters approved a 180-day pause that also cancels recent approvals. Six earlier votes this year all went the same way, Ballotpedia notes, including a ban in Monterey Park, California, that passed with 88.3%.
The number behind it
The NBC News exit poll asked voters whether they would favour or oppose a new data centre in their community. 76% said oppose and 24% said favour. 56% called AI data centres a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress.
The issue reached the top of the ticket too. Democrats who campaigned on pausing or regulating new projects won the governor’s races in Texas and Ohio, CNBC reports. Ohio’s governor-elect, Amy Acton, backs a conditional pause until data centres cover 100% of their utility costs. Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote on Wednesday that states where Democrats are likely to add restrictions hold roughly 45% of planned US data centre capacity, with Texas alone about 25%.
Power bills are a big part of the anger. OpenAI has already promised to pay its own power costs, and the industry was losing public favour before a single vote was counted.
Why it matters
For people living near planned sites, a local vote has turned out to be a real way to stop or slow a project. For AI companies, the limit on growth is starting to look less like money or chips and more like permission from the towns where they want to build.
