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ISO national bodies disapproved the C++26 draft after a 12-week ballot, failing to reach the required two-thirds majority. The objections described in committee member Andreas Fertig’s account center on Contracts, a feature included in the draft after years of work and earlier committee votes. The route forward has not been decided and any available path would delay publication.
ISO national bodies disapproved the C++26 draft on October 23, 2026, after a 12-week vote failed to reach the required two-thirds majority. The objections described by Andreas Fertig, a member of the C++ standardization committee, center on Contracts, a feature included in the draft; the result leaves the committee facing a choice about how to respond before the next C++ standard can be published.
Fertig reported that national bodies could approve or reject the draft, or abstain, and could also submit comments. He said the submitted comments made the reason for the rejection clear: some national bodies considered Contracts not ready for release. The ISO voting result establishes that the draft did not pass; the account does not provide vote totals or a country-by-country breakdown.
The disapproval does not by itself settle whether Contracts will be revised or removed, or whether C++26 will proceed under a different route. Fertig lists four possible paths under ISO procedures: submit a revised draft for another DIS ballot, return a revised draft to an earlier committee stage, publish a Technical Specification, or cancel the project. Each option would delay the next standard, and each requires support within WG21, the C++ working group.
Fertig says WG21 previously approved advancing the draft with Contracts by more than the required two-thirds majority. That earlier committee decision and the later national-body rejection represent separate stages of the process. The next step is not automatic: committee members would need to agree on a response, and the eventual publication timetable remains unknown.
A Setback for C++26’s Release
The failed ballot puts the planned standard’s timing and contents in question. Developers and organizations tracking C++26 cannot yet rely on a final published version or know whether the Contracts feature will remain in it. The outcome also shows that approval within WG21 did not guarantee approval by ISO national bodies at the subsequent stage.
For the committee, the dispute presents a difficult decision. Keeping Contracts could leave the concerns raised by some national bodies unresolved; removing it or revising the draft would affect work developed over several years and approved in earlier committee discussions. Fertig argues that agreement and trust will matter to any path forward. That is his assessment, not a published ISO finding.
The immediate practical effect is delay rather than a confirmed cancellation. Whether the delay is limited to a revised ballot or becomes a broader reset depends on WG21’s decision and the applicable ISO process.
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Contracts’ Long Path Into C++26
Contracts had already been debated in earlier standardization work. Fertig says an earlier version was considered for C++20 in 2019, then removed during the same meeting. A study group worked on the subject from 2020 to about 2024 before bringing proposals to WG21’s Evolution Working Group for further discussion.
WG21 later included Contracts in the C++26 draft through a majority vote, according to Fertig. In March 2026, the group voted on the draft containing the feature and supported advancing it. The subsequent DIS ballot was a later ISO stage: Fertig describes it as the penultimate stage, where a two-thirds majority was needed.
Fertig says his search of the ISO system found one other DIS he could identify as not approved: the C++/CLI Language Specification in 2006, whose project was halted. He cautions that his access might not show every record, so this does not establish that the C++26 vote is definitively the first failed DIS ballot in C++ history.
“A number of NBs believe that this feature is not yet ready for release.”
— Andreas Fertig, C++ standardization committee member
The Route Beyond the Failed Ballot
WG21 has not selected a next step, and the source account does not report a decision on whether Contracts will be retained, changed, or removed. The available routes require a committee majority, but it is unclear whether members who backed the draft with Contracts and those who opposed the feature can agree on a path.
The published ballot total, the distribution of votes among national bodies, and the full text of their comments are not supplied in Fertig’s account. He says ISO rules restrict publication of some vote details and notes that his comments express his personal views. The schedule for any revised draft or further vote is also unknown.
It is not yet clear whether the standard will continue to be called C++26. Fertig presents the possibility of canceling the project as one procedural option, not as an outcome that has been adopted.
WG21 Must Choose a Path
The immediate next development is a decision within WG21 on how to respond to the national bodies’ rejection. Members could pursue a revised DIS vote, send a revised draft back to an earlier committee stage, prepare a Technical Specification, or propose canceling the project, as Fertig outlines.
Each route depends on committee support, and none has been confirmed. Until WG21 chooses one and the relevant ISO steps proceed, the standard’s final contents and release date remain unsettled. A revised draft or another ballot could clarify whether the disagreement over Contracts can be resolved without abandoning the broader C++26 work.
Key Questions
What does “C++26 disapproved” mean?
It means the draft did not achieve the two-thirds majority required in the ISO national-body ballot described by Fertig. It does not, by itself, mean that the C++26 project has been canceled.
Why did national bodies reject the draft?
Fertig says comments from national bodies pointed to Contracts, with some bodies judging the feature not ready for release. The account does not provide the full comments or a vote breakdown.
Will Contracts be removed from C++26?
That has not been decided. Removing or revising the feature is among the possible responses, but WG21 must choose a route and secure the required support.
When will C++26 be published?
No new publication date is confirmed. Fertig says all four options he describes would delay the next standard, but the length of the delay depends on the committee’s decision and subsequent ISO steps.
Source: andreasfertig.com
