Ohio Voters Back Local Data Center Limits in Unofficial Results

Voters in Trenton, Pataskala, Granville, Sunbury, Grove City and Ashville backed local data-center restrictions in Ohio’s November 3, 2026 general election, according to unofficial county results that included Delaware County’s election-night summary. Trenton’s Issue 17 drew 79.68% support.

Butler County’s unofficial results gave Trenton 3,541 yes votes to 903 no votes, with all eight precincts reporting. Licking County’s results showed Pataskala’s data-center charter amendment passing 5,418 to 1,941, or 73.62% yes, and Granville’s amendment passing 2,015 to 429, or 82.45% yes. Sunbury’s charter amendment passed 2,809 to 763, or 78.64%, with all six precincts reporting.

Grove City’s Community Consent Amendment passed 11,317 to 9,411, or 54.60% yes, with all 30 precincts reporting in Franklin County’s summary. Ashville’s referendum drew 1,469 no votes, or 81.61%, against 331 yes votes in Pickaway County’s unofficial results. The Ohio Secretary of State’s ballot catalog identifies the Ashville question as whether to approve a resolution enacting a development-and-supply agreement term summary with EdgeConneX.

The totals remain unofficial. The Ohio Secretary of State says certified results will be published approximately three weeks after the election.

Construction Bans and Community Consent

Pataskala’s official sample ballot shows a direct prohibition on covered data-center construction within city limits, effective immediately. The measure defines covered facilities as buildings, physical facilities or infrastructure used primarily or exclusively for digital information services, with aggregate monthly demand or peak load greater than 25 megawatts. Sunbury’s proposed charter text also uses the greater-than-25-megawatt threshold and defines construction to include related preparations and modifications on single, contiguous, adjacent or otherwise aggregated parcels.

Grove City’s Community Consent Amendment applies to heavy industrial development, including data centers, server farms, power generation and large-scale warehousing or logistics facilities. It requires voter approval before city approvals for developments meeting at least one threshold: 50 or more contiguous acres, more than 20 megawatts of electrical power at peak capacity, or more than 500,000 gallons of water per day. Covered approvals include rezoning, conditional-use permits, planned-unit development approvals, annexations and building permits.

Applicants must fund an independent impact study but have no control over the selected firm or its findings. The study must address water use, grid demand, noise, traffic, employment, tax revenue against infrastructure costs and environmental effects, and be posted publicly at least 60 days before the referendum. A failed vote blocks city approval and bars the same or a substantially similar application for 24 months. A successful vote permits the normal zoning process but guarantees no permit. Cumulative increases above 10% in acreage, peak electrical demand or daily water consumption trigger another referendum.

Trenton’s Court-Ordered Path to the Ballot

Trenton’s vote followed a September 1, 2026 Supreme Court of Ohio opinion holding that the city council had a mandatory constitutional duty to certify residents’ data-center amendment petition. The proposed charter change would prohibit data-center construction. Council members had refused certification after concluding that the petition lacked sufficient valid signatures. Trenton Data Center Campus, L.L.C., an entity constructing a data center in the city, intervened as a respondent.

The petition contained 336 valid signatures. The council derived its 820-signature requirement from 8,197 registered voters, while the court held that 128 were required based on the 1,277 ballots cast at the preceding municipal election. The court reasoned that the constitutional signature percentage rests on total votes cast, not total registered voters, and that a municipal charter cannot be interpreted inconsistently with the Ohio Constitution. Its limited writ ordered certification for a special election within the constitutional 60-to-120-day period and denied requests for attorney fees and court costs.

Statewide Infrastructure Growth and Polling

The local votes intersect with Ohio’s broader data-center expansion. The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel says Ohio has more than 200 data centers, the fifth-highest count among states, with most in Central Ohio, and that companies plan to invest up to $40 billion more by 2030. These facilities support artificial intelligence, cloud storage, streaming and online business operations. A large hyperscale facility can use as much electricity as 100,000 homes, while some data centers use millions of gallons of fresh water daily for cooling.

An October 22, 2026 Ohio Northern University release adds statewide polling context. Its Institute for Civics and Public Policy, working with SurveyUSA, surveyed 1,650 Ohio adults between October 8, 2026 and October 14, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The university reported that 55% of respondents opposed data-center construction in Ohio and 22% supported it; that 57% would vote for a constitutional amendment banning new large-scale data centers with peak demand above 25 megawatts; and that 79% expected higher local water and electricity costs, including 49% anticipating significant increases.

For AI infrastructure developers, the practical consequence is a layer of local approval alongside power, water and permitting decisions. Pataskala and Sunbury prohibit covered projects outright, while Grove City requires an independent study and voter approval before city approvals, followed by review of material expansions. Securing land and utility capacity therefore does not settle whether these projects can proceed in the communities that voted.