Cardano governance vote nears deadline, risking Dijkstra upgrade

Cardano’s Update Constitutional Committee 2026 governance action is approaching a critical voting deadline on September 1 at 21:44:51 UTC. Current participation levels indicate that while Delegated Representatives (DReps) are close to the required 67% threshold at 66.3%, Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) are lagging at 39% against a 51% requirement.

Failure to meet these thresholds could result in the expiration of existing committee members' terms, causing the committee to fall below the mandatory minimum size of five members. Such a vacancy would prevent the ratification of essential governance actions, including Treasury Withdrawals, Parameter Updates, Constitution Updates, and Hard Fork Initiations.

This governance setback could specifically delay the Dijkstra hard fork and the Leios upgrade. The Dijkstra era is planned in two phases, with Phase 1 targeting the fourth quarter of 2026 to introduce the Dijkstra ledger era and Ouroboros Linear Leios.