WOW, what a month April has been!

We can finally share with the public what’s been happening, and where the Referendum process sits.

After an enormous effort by the community, the Referendum Committee submitted approximately 5,200 signed petition pages to the Frederick County Board of Elections. On April 3rd, the Board of Elections announced that not only had we collected well over the minimum number of signatures (beating the requirement by more than 5,000), but the Election Director assessed that the Referendum Petition was sufficient to be placed on the ballot for a public vote.

This was an incredible accomplishment that took hundreds of volunteers working day and night, in freezing temperatures and snow, the support of dozens of local businesses, and thousands of face-to-face conversations between neighbors. We continue to be proud of and inspired by the people of Frederick County, who showed up and demanded their voices be heard. All told, we secured the signatures of approximately TEN PERCENT of the registered voters in Frederick County! At the end, signature collection was still skyrocketing, and with more time we know the number would’ve been even higher.

Our celebration was shortlived. Between April 10th and 13th, five lawsuits were filed in Frederick County Circuit Court, seeking “Judicial Review,” each with the hope of overturning the determination of the Board of Elections. Frederick News-Post | Data center campus developer files legal challenge to Frederick County referendum

In seeking to overturn the Board of Elections decision, the Plaintiffs are essentially saying that the people of Frederick County should not be able to decide their own fate, and that one of the most important and constitutionally-protected tools available to the people – the public referendum – is null and void. Rather, they, the corporate powers, most of whom are based out of state, want to dictate to Frederick County what its future will be, and negate the will of its people.

We had prepared for the possibility of legal challenges to the referendum effort. At the beginning of March, we retained counsel and dedicated considerable resources to having him prepare to defend the referendum.

To our shock and dismay, last week, our former attorney determined he needed to stop representing us. Friday, April 24th, he formally recused himself, stating:

“Here’s what happened. I had a Zoom meeting with all counsel Tuesday morning at 10:00. This was the first time Dan Loftus, or I interacted with counsel from the other cases, aside from Quantum Maryland. At the start of the meeting, counsel introduced themselves and who they represent. One of the lawyers in attendance introduced himself and chose not to use the name of the entity that has filed one of the petitions, instead he announced that he represents what is apparently the parent company of the one that filed the petition. I suspect he did that intentionally to make the connection for me. I think he was aware that I am currently representing another arm of that parent company in an ongoing case and I have represented that group of companies for many years in multiple other matters. That afternoon, I confirmed the facts of the situation and met with my business partner who helped me analyze my ethical obligations.”

The same day we lost our attorney, one of the plaintiffs petitioned the court for a motion for emergency relief to shorten the time for responding to pleadings and other court processes. We were served on April 25, 2026.

These events left us scrambling to find new representation. The feeling of embarking on a major legal defense, working on behalf of 22,169 of our neighbors, suddenly without an attorney, is hard to describe.

After a whirlwind week of searching for, interviewing, and evaluating law firms, today we are pleased to announce that we’re now represented by Keller and Heckman LLP of Washington DC, a large and highly capable firm with a proven history of success in environmental law, public policy, and litigation. We’re confident that they’re the perfect team to defend the rights of the residents of Frederick County and give them the public vote on data center expansion that they’ve demanded. The work is just beginning and in the coming days the legal team will get up to speed to prepare a thorough defense.

We remain steadfast in our belief that we will prevail on the merits in the cases before the court. The people of Frederick County deserve the right to vote on this issue, and we’ve never

been more committed to this effort.

We stand united with our neighbors, with determination and resolve, to take on those that

would deny us a say in our own future. We know you’ll continue to stand with us along the way.

Thank you again for all your hard work, dedication, and patience. We’ll continue to keep you updated as the case progresses.

---The Frederick County Data Center Referendum Committee