The September 2026 Special Council elections are approaching. Four (4) seats in the September cohort are up for election.
Election Timeline
Nominations / election activities: Open now (went live September 1)
Election begins: September 23, 2026 at 17:00 UTC
Election ends: September 30, 2026 at 17:00 UTC (7 days)
Current September Cohort
The current September cohort members are:
Lukas Bures
Vladan Nikolic
Jemma Xu
Paul Mihalache
Their term will end with this election. They are of course free to re-apply.
What is the Special Council?
The Special Council is a seven member body elected by $ZEN tokenholders to oversee governance of the Horizen network.
Members serve one-year Standard Terms. The Council is split into two staggered cohorts the March cohort (3 seats) and the September cohort (4 seats) to ensure continuity of governance.
Seats Available
Four (4) seats are open for this election cycle.
Eligibility Requirements
Candidates should demonstrate:
Experience in the web3 industry
Background in community engagement and community safety
An entrepreneurial mindset
Excellent communication and writing skills
Constitutional Restrictions
No more than two (2) Special Council members may be current employees of, owners of, or holders of a beneficial interest in any common entity
At all times, no fewer than five (5) of the seven Special Council members shall be non-US persons
Candidates must not have conflicts of interest or affiliations with competitor blockchains
How to Run
If you’d like to put your name forward:
Reply to this thread expressing your interest
Create your own dedicated thread titled “Special Council Candidate [Your Name]” with the following details:
A brief introduction and background
Your experience in web3 and with Horizen
What you would bring to the Special Council
Your country of residence (to ensure compliance with the non-US requirement)
This gives the community a dedicated space to ask each candidate questions and discuss their candidacy.
Voting will take place via Snapshot and will be open to all $ZEN tokenholders during the 7-day election window beginning September 23, 2026 at 17:00 UTC.
I’d like to officially put my name forward as a candidate for the September 2026 Horizen DAO Special Council election.
I’m Dr. Mahmoud Alkhatib, a Web3 builder, full-stack developer, community operator, and founder who has spent the past several years building products, growing communities, and working across blockchain ecosystems.
I’m running because I believe the Special Council benefits from having active builders at the table people who understand not only governance discussions, but also what it actually takes to turn an idea into a working product, grow real users, manage communities, evaluate technical proposals, and deliver measurable results.
My priorities will be straightforward: support builders who can actually ship, encourage sustainable utility and ecosystem growth around ZEN, protect the interests of the Horizen community, and help make governance decisions with both a technical and community-first perspective.
I’m based in Jordan and meet the non-US residency requirement.
I’ll be publishing my dedicated candidate thread shortly with more about my background, Web3 experience, what I’ve built, and the specific priorities I would bring to the Special Council.
Looking forward to the conversations ahead, and good luck to everyone running.
I’m happy to announce that I’m running for re-election to the Horizen DAO Special Council. After being elected last year and having the opportunity to serve the community, I’d be honored to continue representing the DAO, protecting its interests, and working toward greater utility and a stronger future for ZEN.
