Data Center Ballot Fights: Piqua, Yukon, Alhambra, Harwood 280 MW

In one data center ballot fight, voters in Piqua, Ohio, will decide on Nov. 3 whether to recall the mayor and two city commissioners who backed AI infrastructure in a city of roughly 20,000, where Meta Platforms is trying to build a data center, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 2.

The Piqua recall is one of more than 40 data center measures on the Nov. 3 midterm ballot, based on Bloomberg's analysis of Ballotpedia data. Our Oct. 22 report on midterm risk rested on a poll; the Oct. 30 count of 41 measures covered Ohio and Sunbury. These are the other fights, and none has been decided: polls close after this story, and no result exists yet.

Recalls, bans and a 280 MW charter fight

In Yukon, Oklahoma, voters will decide whether to recall Mayor Brian Pillmore, who backs a proposed $1 billion data center by Beltline Energy along Route 66. Pillmore told Bloomberg the project could lift city revenue by as much as 75%. In Alhambra, California, a ballot measure would ban data centers outright, as neighboring Monterey Park has done. In Ohio, about a dozen communities vote on bans, most aimed at larger facilities.

In Harwood, North Dakota, resident Michael Swartz drafted a charter amendment called Article X after the mayor signed a nondisclosure agreement with Applied Digital. The company is building a 280 MW, $3 billion facility nearby, which became public in September 2025; Swartz said construction began under a month later. The measure would require disclosure, independent review and public participation for large projects.

Voters in Wilmington, Ohio, will weigh rezoning land around a proposed Amazon data center. Grove City, Ohio, could amend its charter to require a referendum on projects above set size, water and energy-use thresholds. In Janesville, Wisconsin, an initiative, if passed, would give citizens a vote on projects costing more than $450 million at a long-abandoned General Motors site.

Boulder City, Nevada, shows the limit of local law. Activists beat a $3 billion proposal on a city-owned tortoise preserve, yet the developer then won approval on a neighboring site controlled by the federal Bureau of Land Management. Residents now vote on allowing data centers on the preserve, but the result cannot reach across the boundary.

Why the ballot matters for siting

Smart Cities Dive, citing Ballotpedia, counted 41 measures in 10 states: 17 would prohibit data centers and eight would empower local governments to permit them. All six measures already decided this year limited development. Bloomberg cited a Quinnipiac poll in September in which 72% of voters opposed a new data center in their community, up from 65% in March, and Data Center Watch's tally of at least 45 projects worth $68 billion disrupted by local opposition in the second quarter.

For developers, a local yes vote moves risk to the site level: land, zoning and a utility's interconnection queue are lost or reset in one jurisdiction. The Boulder City case suggests projects may relocate rather than disappear. In Madison County, Illinois, four townships near Granite City vote on advisory questions that are nonbinding, St. Louis Public Radio reported on Oct. 20.

What is not confirmed yet

Results arrive after Nov. 3. Dec. 1 is next: Clarksville, Arkansas votes on $55 billion in bond ordinances for a ServerFarm data center. A Coweta County, Georgia petition with more than 14,000 signatures targets a $17 billion campus, and a January vote depends on a judge's ruling. Meta, Amazon and Applied Digital have not said how a loss would change their plans.