The Frederick County Board of Elections found the petition to be sufficient to qualify for the ballot under Maryland law.

FREDERICK, MD — The Frederick County Board of Elections found on Friday, April 3, that a petition calling for a referendum on the Frederick County Council’s creation of a 2,600-acre data center development zone was sufficient to qualify for the ballot in November. At issue is Ordinance 26-01-001, which would expand the current Eastalco data center complex by nearly 1,000 acres. Under the Frederick County Charter, the Frederick County Data Center Referendum Committee needed to gather 15,611 (7% of the registered voters in the county) within 59 days of the ordinance being enacted. The Committee far exceeded that goal by gathering 21,029 valid signatures. 

This historic effort was entirely led by Frederick County residents who are deeply concerned by the projected land, water, financial costs, and climate impacts from the expansion of this data center. They gathered hundreds of volunteers and recruited a diverse set of community organizations to support the initiative, including Envision Frederick County, the Sugarloaf Alliance, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund, Mobilize Frederick, The Frederick County MD Farm Bureau, Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, the Tri-County Coalition, Clean Water Action, Climate Communications Coalition, Fellowship of Scientist and Engineers, Citizens for Responsible Growth, the Frederick Democratic Socialists of America, the Sierra Club of Catoctin, the Frederick Chapter of the League of Women Voters, the Maryland Legislative Coalition, Climate Justice Wing, and Nature Forward. 

The Frederick County Board of Elections has sent the referendum petition to the Frederick County Council for the scheduling of either a special election or inclusion of the question on the November ballot. Under the County Charter, the Council does not have a decision-making role in whether the referendum proceeds; its sole responsibility is to schedule the vote. 

“We are very happy and proud of what we’ve accomplished as we’ve made history in Frederick County,” said Elizabeth Bauer, Founder of the Frederick County Data Center Referendum Committee, and Chair of Envision Frederick County. “It is our hope that County Executive Fitzwater and the County Council will respect the will of the people and put this issue on the ballot.”

“We were so honored and proud to provide our support to this initiative,” said Mustafa Abdullah, Director of Campaigns & Strategies, at CCAN Action Fund. “We got involved in this because we are deeply concerned as an organization about the climate impacts of data centers and want all data centers across Maryland to be required to run on 100% clean energy. According to the University of Maryland, the State is already falling behind on meeting its statutory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, and that’s before you factor in the construction of new or expanded data centers. The expansion of data centers exacerbates rising utility costs and makes it increasingly difficult to meet Maryland’s climate goals.”

“This initiative has demonstrated that the issue of data center sprawl is bipartisan. Voters in Frederick County have found a new way to engage in this issue that doesn’t lock them into a partisan position and doesn’t require them to wait for a candidate election,” said Steve Black, member of the Referendum Committee, Adamstown farmer, and President of the Sugarloaf Alliance. “Over 21,000 – an astounding 10% of registered voters – took the time to find a signing location, drive there, pick up and sign the petition. That takes a lot of effort and it shows a depth of concern that can’t be easily dismissed. Voters believe that the Frederick County Council’s policy is misguided. And we urge incumbent officials to pay attention and rethink their course.”

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund is dedicated to driving change in public policies at the local, state, and national levels to address the climate crisis. Through voter education, lobbying, and participation in the electoral process, we seek to advance our country’s leadership in the global movement toward clean energy solutions — focusing our efforts primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. We know that a vibrant democracy is central to our success so we work to defend democratic integrity wherever we can.