Results are still streaming in from what is already a history-making midterm election cycle, but there is at least one clear outcome: Americans are fed up with AI data centers.

Data centers have become a leading issue in local politics over the last year. In 2026, at least 50 local ballot measures related to data center permits, construction, or regulation were proposed in state legislatures. Forty-one of these measures were voted on during the Nov. 3 midterm election.

Voters in around 30 jurisdictions across the U.S. passed legislation to keep data centers out of their communities, the Washington Post reported based on early return data. At least another six voted to ban future construction and halt planned projects.

Younger generations, including Gen Z political advocacy organization Voters of Tomorrow, have rallied around the pro-climate, anti-Big Tech campaigns of many Democratic candidates.

According to an NBC exit poll, 67 percent of Democratic voters said AI data centers were a crucial factor in their down-the-ballot voting. Around 63 percent of Democrats said they would oppose construction of data centers in their communities. A national poll from Pew Research Center in September found that only 4 percent of Americans believed data centers had positive effects for their area.

Ohio had 21 data center-related ballot measures, the most of any state. Thirteen municipalities approved outright bans on data centers, Forbes reported. Several voted on proposed zoning regulations and/or on the future of existing construction projects.

Other state ballots featured similar proposed legislation, ranging from multi-year moratoriums on data centers to new processes for securing citizen approval for data centers.

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