Ohio Supreme Court Takes Up Fight Over Trenton Data Center Ballot Initiative
The Ohio Supreme Court is reviewing a lawsuit challenging the City of Trenton's rejection of a ballot initiative to ban data centers. The dispute centers on how the city calculated required petition signatures, which effectively blocked the initiative from the November ballot.
The Ohio Supreme Court has taken up a lawsuit regarding a ballot initiative to ban data centers in Trenton, Ohio. The case stems from the City of Trenton's City Council rejecting the initiative by interpreting the required petition signatures based on total registered voters, rather than the lower number based on those who voted in the last election, as recommended by the Butler County Board of Elections and Prosecutor's Office.
Petition circulator Barry Blankenship, who has been opposing the already under-construction Prologis data center and the newly announced Amazon Web Services project in Madison and St. Clair Townships (slated for annexation by Trenton), is leading the fight. He believes the city is trying to mislead residents.
The Supreme Court has opened an expedited election case, issuing summons to the council members for a response within three days. Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser stated he provided the correct formula for signature calculation but would not comment further due to the ongoing Supreme Court case.