2026 election results show widespread opposition to AI data centers | Scientific American

November 4, 2026 2 min read Add Us On Google Add SciAm The data center boom was on Tuesday ballots 41 times. It won once Across 10 states this Election Day, voters overwhelmingly backed restrictions on data center development or rejected measures that would have eased their construction By Peter Hall edited by Eric Sullivan A sign protesting data center construction in Emporia, Kansas. Emporia was one of the jurisdictions that voted on a data center prohibition on Election Day. It voted YES to ban construction. mark reinstein / Shutterstock.com Join Our Community of Science Lovers! Sign Up for Our Free Daily Newsletter Enter your email I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Scientific American Inc. Privacy Policy . We leverage third party services to both verify and deliver email. By providing your email address, you also consent to having the email address shared with third parties for those purposes. Sign Up On Tuesday the artificial intelligence boom was on the ballot 41 times in 10 states . By Wednesday, with most results in, voters had sided with it just once. The questions, many of them in Ohio, spanned moratoriums, attempted rezonings and advisory votes for local officials. Another six preceded them this year; a further three are yet to come. In many cases, the margins were staggering. In Wells, Me., more than 80 percent of voters approved a retroactive 180-day moratorium on data center development. Amanda Montañez; Source: Ballotpedia ( data ) On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing . By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. The lone win came in Harwood, N.D., where voters, by about three to one, rejected a proposal requiring extra review of industrial projects, data centers included. A $3-billion data center called Polaris Forge 2 is already under construction near the city. The skepticism climbed the ballot, too. Governors-elect Gina Hinojosa in Texas, Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, and Amy Acton in Ohio—all Democrats—made data center regulation a key part of their campaigns. Texas is the big one, accounting for about a quarter of the U.S. data center capacity in the works, according to one recent analysis , and tighter rules there could slow the national build-out. In the short term, investors got jittery on Wednesday, sending AI data center stocks tumbling . In the long term, the results lend weight to a prediction from OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane , that AI will be the defining issue of the 2028 presidential election. We analyzed the initiatives, referrals and advisory questions on the ballot this year to understand what they say about where people do—and overwhelmingly don’t—want the U.S. AI build-out to happen. The full list is below. Amanda Montañez; Source: Ballotpedia ( data ) Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community. When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production. Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber Thank you, Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American Subscribe