Harwood, a small town in North Dakota, has rejected a ballot measure that would have imposed new limits on large-scale industrial developments such as data centres, making it the only one of 45 data-centre measures in the US midterm elections to produce a pro-development result.
About 75% of voters opposed the proposal, with 325 of the 430 votes cast against it. Harwood, which lies about 10 miles from Fargo and has roughly 940 residents, is the site of a major data-centre project being overseen by Applied Digital Corp for Oracle.
The amendment to Harwood’s Home Rule Charter would have required independent reviews and public hearings for industrial projects, as well as imposing additional requirements on how developments were assessed, approved and administered.
Construction began in September 2025 on a 160-acre campus expected to be fully operational next year. The site could eventually expand to about 900 acres.
Harwood’s data centre dispute
The vote followed a year-long campaign led by resident Michael Swartz, who formed the grassroots group Voices of Harwood to oppose the continued construction. He said residents only became aware of the project about three weeks before work began.
Swartz said he was concerned about the potential impact on the area, particularly noise pollution given the presence of an elementary school within about a mile of the campus. He also alleged that local authorities had hampered efforts to advance the initiative.
“Long term, there’s some really serious implications that I don’t think have been fully fleshed-out, or vetted, or even are getting talked about, at the scale that I think they need to be addressed,” he said.
Swartz said the petition to place the amendment on the ballot gathered 91 signatures in three days in August, more than twice the required 40. He said the campaign later faced opposition from town officials and the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce.
Materials distributed by opponents claimed the amendment could cost taxpayers between $300,000 and $544,000, while also increasing annual taxes because of projects that might be lost. The chamber said it had worked with Harwood residents and businesses to provide voters with accurate information about the proposal.
Mayor Blake Hankey and other officials opposed the measure, arguing it would create an administrative burden and establish a precedent for requiring public votes on town issues. Councilman Chris Higgins warned that Applied Digital could de-annex the project, putting tax benefits at risk.
Hankey said the data centre would generate $1.65 million in taxes by 2028. Applied Digital is also eligible for a North Dakota tax incentive exempting computers, cooling systems and servers from the state’s 5% sales tax.
Applied Digital executive Nick Phillips said Harwood had been chosen because of its cooler climate, access to energy and “pro-business landscape”. He said the company expected the project to create jobs and bring economic benefits to the community.
“While our projects may seem fast to get going, they also involve an incredibly large amount of community conversations through both legally required as well as company-led events,” Phillips said. He added that the company held town halls, one-to-one meetings and public forums beyond the minimum required by law.
Swartz also criticised the wording that appeared on the ballot, saying it differed significantly from the version submitted by Voices of Harwood and made the proposal harder to understand.
“Had I not been involved with it, and had I not done my due diligence as a voter and read what Measure 2 was about, and I only was basing my decision on that summary, there’s no way I would have voted yes,” he said.
Although the result placed Harwood at odds with the wider backlash against data centres, Swartz said the vote was ultimately shaped by financial pressure and fears of losing tax revenue.
“We live in a climate right now where money is tight. Pocketbooks are getting squeezed by things that are way outside of our control,” he said. “I think that was a determining factor.”
