Trump's AI push collides with data center backlash at local ballots

Roughly 20 communities vote Tuesday on whether to ban, pause or limit data center construction, Politico reports, turning local ballot measures into an early test of President Trump's strategy to build more facilities to power American AI. Many of the measures, in states including Ohio, Florida, Maine and Kansas, are in Republican-led districts, exposing a split within Trump's base. They follow roughly 400 moratoriums and bans already enacted by communities worried about data centers' drain on electricity, water and land. Ballotpedia counts at least 41 data center measures across 10 states on the Nov. 3 ballot, 21 of them in Ohio, and all six decided earlier this year went against development.