Harwood, North Dakota, a town of about 940 people ten miles from Fargo, was the only place in the country where voters sided with a data center on Election Day, according to Redbud Consulting data cited by Fortune, which counted 45 data center ballot measures nationwide. In Harwood, about 75 percent of the 430 votes cast, 325, went against Measure 2, a charter amendment that would have put new hurdles in front of large industrial projects. The results are unofficial.
Harwood, North Dakota (via Nextdoor)The measure would have amended the town's Home Rule Charter to require independent reviews and public hearings for large industrial projects. A grassroots group, Voices of Harwood, finished drafting it in January and, in August, gathered 91 signatures in three days, more than twice the 40 required. Its organizer, software developer Michael Swartz, who has lived in town nearly 20 years, told Fortune the language that reached the ballot differed significantly from what his group had submitted.
The target was Applied Digital's Polaris Forge 2, a $3 billion, 280-megawatt AI campus on the edge of town. Harwood's city council approved it in September 2025 over strong objections from residents
READ MORE AT SOURCE »
« Back to The Culture War
