Voters in eight states—Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, California, Michigan, Nevada, and Florida—will decide on 38 data center-related ballot measures in 2026. The ballot measures span 35 jurisdictions in 30 counties.
Ohio accounts for 20 measures across 17 jurisdictions, more than half of the total. Illinois has seven measures, including four in Madison County. The remaining 11 measures are in Wisconsin and Kansas, with three each; California, with two; and Michigan, Nevada, and Florida, with one each.
Thirty-one measures (82%) qualified for the ballot through citizen-initiated petition processes, while seven (18%) were referred by local governing bodies.
Nine measures are advisory questions, while the other 29 would enact, amend, approve, or reject laws, charters, zoning decisions, or development agreements. The measures include complete prohibitions, temporary moratoriums, zoning and rezoning decisions, project-specific approvals, requirements for future voter approval, and advisory votes.
Most measures, 34 of 38 (89%), are scheduled for the November 3 general election. The other four appeared earlier in the year, and voters in each case favored greater restrictions on data center development, either by approving a restriction or rejecting a measure that would have facilitated development.
A data center is a physical facility that houses computer systems and related equipment used to store, manage, process, and transmit digital information. Data centers typically contain rows of computer servers, data storage systems, and networking equipment, along with the power and cooling infrastructure needed to operate them.
Data centers vary in size and type. A large, warehouse-sized facility is known as a hyperscale data center. According to the Congressional Research Service, increasing demand for data storage and computing power, particularly for AI, has driven the construction of hyperscale data centers.
Beyond ballot measures, citizens in some jurisdictions launched recall efforts against government officials involved in data center-related decisions.
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