--- title: "Data centres lost 40 of 41 local ballots; KOSPI fell 5.28%" summary: "What 41 local measures in 10 US states decided on 3 November, by Ballotpedia’s count, and how Seoul’s chip-heavy KOSPI read the result on 5 November." url: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/data-centres-lose-40-of-41-ballots-kospi format: Note desk: "Markets & the AI economy" region: Global published: 2026-11-05 facts_checked: 2026-11-05 author: TechBag (The TechBag Journal) tags: ["data centres","ballot measures","Ballotpedia","Ohio","zoning","moratorium","AI infrastructure","KOSPI","SK hynix","Samsung Electronics","memory chips","South Korea"] cover: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/covers/data-centres-lose-40-of-41-ballots-kospi.png --- # Data centres lost 40 of 41 local ballots; KOSPI fell 5.28% *What 41 local measures in 10 US states decided on 3 November, by Ballotpedia’s count, and how Seoul’s chip-heavy KOSPI read the result on 5 November.* Note · Markets & the AI economy · By TechBag · Published 2026-11-05 · Facts checked 2026-11-05 · Canonical: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/data-centres-lose-40-of-41-ballots-kospi On 3 November, voters in 10 US states decided 41 local ballot measures about data centres. In 40 of them the majority chose greater limits on building them, either by approving a restriction or by rejecting a measure that would have helped a project along. The one exception was Harwood, North Dakota, where voters turned down an extra review of industrial projects, data centres included. That is Ballotpedia’s count and its classification.[1] Two days later in Seoul, the KOSPI index closed 5.28% lower at 5,383.80, with SK hynix down 9.46% and Samsung Electronics down 7.57%.[3][4] −5.28% KOSPI, to 5,383.80, on 5 November Korea Times; JoongAng Daily −9.46% SK hynix, to ₩1,264,000 Korea Times; JoongAng Daily −7.57% Samsung Electronics, to ₩201,500 Korea Times; JoongAng Daily ₩3.43trn net selling of KOSPI shares by foreign investors JoongAng Daily ## What the 41 measures decided **Figure: Ohio voted on 21 of the 41 measures; only North Dakota's one went the builders' way** *Local data-centre ballot measures decided on 3 November 2026, by state, number of measures* Ohio 21 Illinois 7 Maine 4 Kansas 3 California 1 Florida 1 Nevada 1 New Jersey 1 North Dakota (the exception) 1 Wisconsin 1 | | Value | | --- | --- | | Ohio | 21 | | Illinois | 7 | | Maine | 4 | | Kansas | 3 | | California | 1 | | Florida | 1 | | Nevada | 1 | | New Jersey | 1 | | North Dakota | 1 | | Wisconsin | 1 | Source: Ballotpedia, Data center-related ballot measures, 2026 · as of 4 November 2026 · Harwood, North Dakota, is the one outcome Ballotpedia counts as favouring development These were town, city, township and county votes, each binding or advising only its own government. Most were blunt. Alhambra, California, banned data centres in the city with 82% of the vote; Ottawa, Kansas, and four places in Ohio banned any using more than 25 megawatts; North Berwick, Maine, banned those of 25,000 square feet or more. Grove City, Ohio, now needs a public vote before any development of 50 contiguous acres, more than 20 megawatts of peak demand or more than 500,000 gallons of water a day; it passed with 55%. Perry, Ohio, requires hyperscale developers seeking special tax incentives to provide financial guarantees (87%).[1] TechBag countThe 41, grouped by what they asked Seventeen outright bans, city-wide or above a size, all approved. Three moratoriums in Maine towns, of 180 days or six months, approved. Nine advisory questions: seven asked voters to back permitting or approving data centres and were rejected, among them Joliet, Illinois, on “AI data centers” (79% no); two asked for a moratorium or restrictions and passed. Six land decisions were rejected: four rezonings in Wilmington, Ohio, each about 80% no; Ashville, Ohio’s term summary for negotiations with EdgeConneX; and Boulder City, Nevada’s question to allow data centres in the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area. Five set conditions (votes, guarantees, zoning) and passed. One, Harwood’s review, failed. We grouped Ballotpedia’s own descriptions.[1] Counts differ by what is counted. The 41 are the 3 November ballot, the figure CNBC reported.[2] Ballotpedia’s whole-year tally is 50 measures in 13 states, 47 decided by 4 November, 46 of them for greater limits.[1] ## How Seoul read it The Korea Times attributed the fall to concerns that tighter US regulation of AI and data-centre development, after the midterm results, could slow AI infrastructure spending. Samsung and SK hynix make up roughly half of the KOSPI’s market value, it noted, which leaves the index exposed to chip sentiment; overnight in New York, Micron had fallen 7% and Nvidia 3.17%.[3] Foreign investors sold a net ₩3.43 trillion of KOSPI shares while individuals bought ₩2.28 trillion; the KOSDAQ fell 5.11%.[4] Two Seoul analysts read it differently. Han Ji-young of Kiwoom Securities said the hit to chipmakers should be limited, because projects already under way are unlikely to face major delays and nationwide restrictions would be hard to put in place.[3] Kim Dae-jun of Korea Investment & Securities linked the fall to “concerns over tighter AI regulations” alongside supply-and-demand uncertainty before Anthropic’s listing.[4] ## What to watch Three measures are still to come. On 1 December, Clarksville, Arkansas, votes on whether to keep two ordinances authorising up to US$50bn and US$5bn of taxable industrial development bonds for data-centre projects, each with a payment in lieu of taxes. On 15 December, Mandan, North Dakota, votes on banning data centres of 25 megawatts or more.[1] In Seoul, the test of Han’s reading is whether projects already under way keep their schedules; the spending those projects represent is tracked quarter by quarter in [our Big Tech capex Trend](https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/big-tech-ai-capex-quarterly-line). How we did this Figures as of 5 November 2026, 7pm IST The ballot count and every vote share are from Ballotpedia’s list as of 4 November; “against data centres” is Ballotpedia’s own test (did the outcome favour greater limits?). The grouping of the 41 by kind is our count of its descriptions. Market closes and flows are as reported by The Korea Times and Korea JoongAng Daily, which agree where both give a figure; we did not read KRX’s own data. Causes are the outlets’ and analysts’ readings. Not used: a reported OpenAI pledge on data-centre terms (we could not open OpenAI’s statement) and Ohio’s planned AI campuses (no primary source read). Spotted an error? Write to us; corrections are published at the foot of the piece. Sources 1. [Ballotpedia, Data center-related ballot measures, 2026](https://ballotpedia.org/Data_center-related_ballot_measures,_2026) — as of 4 November 2026 2. [CNBC, Voters rebuff data centers in every ballot measure except one during the 2026 midterms (MacKenzie Sigalos)](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/04/data-center-ballot-measures-2026-midterm.html) — 4 November 2026 3. [The Korea Times, KOSPI tumbles as Democrat sweep fuels AI infrastructure concerns (Park Han-sol)](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/economy/20261105/kospi-tumbles-as-democrat-sweep-fuels-ai-infrastructure-concerns) — 5 November 2026 4. [Korea JoongAng Daily, Kospi sinks below the waves as U.S. 'Blue tsunami' soaks Korean tech shares (Park Yu-mi)](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/business/kospi-sinks-below-the-waves-as-us-blue-tsunami-soaks-korean-tech-shares/12958434) — 5 November 2026 **Disclosure.** TechBag is a software reseller: it earns a margin when a reader buys through it, including from vendors named here. The analysis is TechBag’s own; no vendor paid for or saw this piece before publication. Facts are labelled reported, TechBag count or our view. **Read this next:** [PC shipments fell a fifth while DRAM contract prices rose 5× in a year](https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/pc-shipments-fall-memory-prices-ai-data-centres) — Where memory prices stand: DRAM contract prices rose fivefold in a year while worldwide PC shipments fell a fifth. Go deeper on TechBag - [Microsoft Azure](https://www.thetechbag.com/microsoft/microsoft-azure) — one of the clouds the new data-centre campuses are built to serve - [Google Cloud](https://www.thetechbag.com/google/google-cloud) — another hyperscale cloud whose capacity depends on new sites - [The AWS hub](https://www.thetechbag.com/aws) — every AWS product TechBag covers, with dated claims