Data Center? Not in My Back Yard!

Americans are saying “not in my backyard” when it comes to data centers. Ballotpedia has counted 35 local measures on the ballot in the November 3 midterm elections and four more decided previously in 2026, most aimed at banning or restricting the construction of new data centers in certain jurisdictions. Ohio has 21 such measures on the November ballot in 18 locales. This number has been potentially pushed up by a Senate race in the state focusing on data centers as Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown is attacking Republican incumbent Senator Jon Husted over his support of and tax breaks for data center buildouts during this time as lieutenant governor.

Several other ballot questions concerning data centers have been posed in nearby Illinois and Wisconsin and a handful of other states across the country, dealing with data center permits in villages like Augusta, Mich., at just 860 inhabitants, mid-sized cities like El Dorado and Emporia, Kans., and jurisdictions within the Los Angeles metro area, like Alhambra and Monterey Park, alike.

A Fox News poll at the same time shows that American registered voters largely oppose any data centers being built in their area. Only a quarter of those surveyed this September said they supported such constructions. Even for data centers in remote areas, only slightly more than half of surveyed voters said they favored the idea.

As data centers require strong electricity grids as well as human labor and function better if they are placed closer to internet users and data cables, most of them are built at least relatively close to cities, towns or other settlements. Pew Research Center has recently observed a shift of new data center builds towards smaller and even remote communities as internet connections improve there, land and utilities can be cheaper and some places actually compete for data centers to be built as a means of bringing in business – often to the chagrin of residents.