On Sept. 1, Cardano's Constitutional Committee renewal crossed both required voting thresholds in a pre-boundary snapshot, with delegate representative support at 69.36% and stake pool operator support at 51.18% — the latter just 0.18 percentage points above the 51% minimum. The proposal had not yet been ratified, enacted, or expired at the time of the snapshot, and the decision was due at the boundary into epoch 653, around 21:44 UTC.
A razor-thin SPO margin
The SPO vote was the tight one. While DRep support cleared its 67% threshold with room to spare, the stake pool operators came in barely above the line. That narrow gap matters because uncast stake from SPOs counts against ratification in the effective calculation. Explicit abstentions and alwaysAbstain votes are removed from the effective calculation, but non-participating stake still drags on approval.
Koios data shows roughly 2.008 million ADA in explicit SPO No votes, against about 5.316 billion ADA in total No or default-No side. Most of the drag came from non-participating stake, not from active opposition.
What an undersized committee can't do
Four committee seats lapse at the start of epoch 654 on Sept. 6. Without renewal, the committee would fall to three members, below the minimum of five. An undersized committee cannot supply approval for treasury withdrawals, protocol parameter changes, hard fork initiations, or a new constitution. No-confidence and update-committee actions remain available, but the core governance functions would be blocked.
If the renewal is ratified at the epoch 653 boundary, enactment occurs at the epoch 654 boundary — the same time the seats lapse. That timing is tight but workable.
The Dijkstra hard fork timeline
Intersect, the organization that supports Cardano's governance, warned that a failed renewal could interrupt governance continuity and may affect progress toward the Dijkstra hard fork. The timeline impact is a risk, not a confirmed delay. The warning underscores how much of the network's roadmap now depends on this committee staying above its minimum size.
The ratification decision is due at the epoch 653 boundary. If ratified, enactment happens at the epoch 654 boundary, the same moment the four seats lapse. The question now is whether the committee will be confirmed in time to avoid an undersized body.
