The controversial process, which involves pumping a slurry of water, chemicals and sand down a well to crack open shale bedrock and extract oil and gas, has driven a surge in U.S. energy production, enriched property owners and created local jobs.

But there's a growing backlash against the industry: Opponents are concerned about air, water, waste, noise and light pollution, and they argue that regulations are too weak.

Fracking is "coming into communities where people live and work and play, and people are increasingly saying a drilling rig is not a neighbor I want to have," said Kate Sinding, senior attorney and director of the Community Fracking Defense Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Here's the rundown of the eight anti-fracking campaigns on the Tuesday, Nov. 4 ballot: four Ohio towns (Athens, Gates Mills, Kent and Youngstown), one Texas town (Denton) and three southern California counties (Santa Barbara, San Benito and Mendocino).

A notable absence from the list is Colorado, the birthplace of the anti-fracking movement. Citizens there pursued two state-level initiatives that would have restricted fracking, but those efforts were derailed in August by Gov. John Hickenlooper out of fear that fracking would become a wedge issue and split the Democratic vote at a crucial time for the party.

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