Mealey's (June 18, 2015, 3:53 PM EDT) -- HOLLISTER, Calif. — Residents of San Benito County, Calif., on Nov. 4, 2014, passed a ballot measure banning hydraulic fracturing within county limits, according to numerous news reports.

Bans Approved

By a margin of 57.3 percent to 42.6 percent, voters passed Measure J, making San Benito among the first counties in California to ban fracking, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Residents in Mendocino County, Calif., also voted to ban fracking, by 67 percent to 33 percent, but a similar measure in Santa Barbara County,...