Ohio already has 125 local data center moratoriums. Early results from its 21 ballot measures on AI infrastructure have determined there will be more

Ohio voters rejected the AI buildout almost everywhere it was on the ballot Tuesday, with at least 14 municipalities passing bans or other restrictions on data centers. The Buckeye State is on its way to becoming the prototype for how American voters respond in the face of mass AI infrastructure expansion.

Ohio residents across 18 municipalities voted on 21 ballot measures on data centers on Tuesday—more than half of the 41 data center-related ballot measures across the country.

With more than 200 operational data centers, Ohio ranks No. 5 among U.S. states in number of data center projects. According to state data, companies plan to invest up to $40 billion in AI infrastructure in the state by 2030.

Plans for AI infrastructure expansion across the country face strong national opposition—including in the form of 125 local data center moratoriums already in place in Ohio. Ohio voters’ decisive stance against the buildout could foreshadow not just future election results, but how stakeholders in the private sector and government respond.

“With over 100 Ohio townships adopting moratoria or restrictions, strong voter turnout against expansion would signal to statehouses nationwide that ratepayer protections, transparency, and grid safeguards should dominate policy agendas,” Keith Durkin, a sociology professor and director of the Ohio Northern University Institute for Civics and Public Policy (ICAPP), told Fortune.

In central Ohio, all five communities with data center measures on the ballot voted against data centers. In Sunbury, residents appear to have passed a charter amendment banning data centers that use 25 megawatts or more, with 100% of the unofficial vote counted. The measure was aimed at a possible hyperscale Amazon project, though the project’s fate remains unclear, NBC4 reported. Pataskala voters also approved a charter ban on........

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