Voters in Several Midterm Contests Reject License Plate Surveillance Measures, Election Results Show
11/09/2026 // Douglas Harrington // Views

Voters in several local midterm contests approved restrictions on automated license plate readers (ALPRs) or rejected measures that would have endorsed their continued use, according to election results and local reports.

The outcomes, concentrated in a handful of municipal and county ballots, marked the first time in this cycle that the question of whether to keep ALPRs, most commonly sold by Flock Safety, went directly before voters.

In York County, Maine, a ballot measure to remove the county's current ALPRs and require voter approval for future installations of surveillance technology passed with 72% of the vote, according to Futurism. In League City, Texas, a nonbinding advisory measure asking whether the city should continue police use of ALPRs was rejected, with 54% of voters opposed, according to the same report.

Pflugerville, Texas, passed an ordinance requiring public approval before installing facial recognition, surveillance, and AI tools that could affect residents' privacy, according to Community Impact, as cited in the report. The ballot results were among the local contests where numerous anti-Flock ballot measures and politicians won handily in the Nov. 3 elections, according to Futurism [1].

Ballot Measures in Maine, Texas, and Pflugerville

The York County measure combined two provisions: removal of the county's existing ALPRs and a requirement that any future installation of surveillance technology be approved by voters, according to the ballot language cited in the report. The 72% margin was the largest of the ALPR-related results in the midterm elections.

The League City measure was advisory, not binding, and asked voters whether the city should continue police use of ALPRs. The 54% opposition margin was narrower than the York County result, but the outcome was recorded as a rejection of the measure, according to the report.

The measures were not part of a single national campaign. The ballot language and procedural posture differed by jurisdiction, and the York County and League City results were advisory or local in scope, according to the report. The broader slate of local contests on Tuesday also included votes on data centers, tech lobbying, and other matters, according to Futurism [2].

Local Candidates and Flock Contracts

In League City, incumbent Mayor Nick Long retained his seat after committing to follow the voters' decision on the ALPR measure, according to the right-libertarian magazine Reason, as cited in the report.

Long's opponent, Tom Crews, did not give a clear position on how a no vote would affect the city's $175,000 contract with Flock, according to the report.

The candidate-level results were consistent with the ballot outcomes, according to the report, which characterized the local results as a setback for the ALPR industry.

At the same time, the debate over the cameras has become a national political issue in the midterms. President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he "sort of" likes the cameras because of their value to law enforcement, while acknowledging that some people view them as an infringement [3]. The Texas Department of Transportation also suspended approvals for new Flock cameras on Nov. 6, the agency said, according to Just the News [4].

Pending Measures and Preempted Referendums

At least seven ALPR-related measures did not make the ballot in states including West Virginia and Colorado, according to Ballotpedia, as cited in the report. More than 145,000 ALPRs are installed throughout the U.S., according to the report. The measures that did not reach the ballot reflect the procedural barriers that local organizers face.

Public opposition to the cameras has also been visible outside the ballot box. The crowdsourced DeFlock project had located 95,923 Flock Safety cameras across the U.S. as of July 17, 2026, representing about 83% of the automated license plate readers volunteers had identified, according to the project's data [5]. Flock Safety itself reported processing more than 20 billion vehicle scans per [5].

Conclusion: Results and Next Steps

The midterm outcomes in York County, League City, and Pflugerville show that voters in several local jurisdictions considered ALPR measures, and the results were split between approval of restrictions and rejection of advisory measures, according to election data.

Flock Safety and other ALPR companies did not issue a public statement in the report. The League City cameras were bagged by Thursday after voters rejected the proposition, according to local reporting [6].

Organizers seeking additional restrictions said they expect to continue local campaigns, while noting the scale of existing ALPR installations. As the cameras have become a national issue, the National Public Radio reported that candidates from both parties are increasingly joining the debate over Flock surveillance cameras [7].

References

  1. Flock Cameras Got Eviscerated by the Midterms. https://futurism.com/future-society/flock-alpr-surveillance-cameras-eviscerated-midterms
  2. Flock Cameras Got Eviscerated by the Midterms - DNyuz. https://dnyuz.com/2026/11/06/flock-cameras-got-eviscerated-by-the-midterms/
  3. President Trump Says He Likes Flock Cameras as GOP Lawmakers Press Privacy Concerns. https://100percentfedup.com/president-trump-says-he-likes-flockmeras-as/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=president-trump-says-he-likes-flockmeras-as
  4. Texas suspends approvals for new Flock cameras. https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/texas-suspends-approvals-new-flock-cameras?utm_source=justthenews.com&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=external-news-aggregators
  5. Nationwide Deployment of AI Powered License Plate Cameras Raises Oversight Questions - NaturalNews.com, July 31, 2026.
  6. League City crews began bagging Flock cameras Thursday .... https://www.facebook.com/kgtx7news/videos/league-city-crews-began-bagging-flock-cameras-thursday-after-voters-rejected-pro/2514781485720471/
  7. Flock cameras draw opposition from across the political spectrum. https://www.npr.org/2026/09/05/nx-s1-5955778/flock-surveillance-camera-opposition-politics

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