Flamengo approves poll reform, new code, delays online vote debate | OneFootball

Deliberative Council Meeting Defined New Changes

Flamengo took another step toward modernizing its internal rules. In a meeting held on Monday (13), the Deliberative Council approved a broad electoral reform, which includes the creation of the Electoral and Good Conduct Code, a document that now becomes part of the club’s Bylaws. Despite the changes, the possibility of online voting in presidential elections was left out of the update.

The proposal was approved by a wide majority of the council members and establishes new rules for Flamengo’s electoral process, in addition to changing important articles of the Bylaws. The issue of remote voting, however, will remain under discussion for future reforms.

SO WHY DID FLAMENGO NOT APPROVE ONLINE VOTING?

Although the club has already allowed remote voting in Deliberative Council sessions since May 2025, adopting the system for presidential elections was considered premature by the Permanent Electoral Commission. According to the opinion presented to the council members, the issue generated different positions during the debates. For that reason, the commission chose to remove the topic from the reform to avoid compromising the consensus reached on the other points of the proposal.

In the document, the commission stressed that the decision does not represent a rejection of online voting. The understanding is that the measure requires a more in-depth analysis involving statutory, technological, operational, financial, information security, and electoral process credibility aspects.

It is worth remembering that president Luiz Eduardo Baptista (Bap) defended, during the campaign, expanding remote access to the club’s internal votes. However, the proposal presented at the time dealt only with institutional deliberations, without explicitly mentioning the presidential election.

WHAT CHANGES IN FLAMENGO’S BYLAWS, AFTER ALL?

In addition to creating the Electoral and Good Conduct Code, the Deliberative Council approved changes to several articles of the Bylaws.

Among the main changes are:

IN SHORT, HOW WAS THE REFORM APPROVED?

The reform received strong support from the council members. Of the 678 votes recorded — including in-person and remote participation — 80.6% were in favor of the new text. After the approval, the board released an official statement saying that the update strengthens Flamengo’s governance model. According to the club, the changes reinforce transparency, institutional responsibility, and the evolution of internal processes.

On the other hand, members of opposition groups voiced criticism of the proposal. The main argument is that part of the changes concentrates more powers in the Board of Directors, made up exclusively of representatives from the election’s winning ticket, while reducing the powers of the Deliberative Council, the body that brings together members from different political factions within the club.

WHAT IS THE AUTHOR’S OPINION?

— In short, the main changes are more about ‘internal control’ and speeding up electoral processes. The main point, which is online voting, has still not been debated. I believe that, if that happens one day, Flamengo will have many more members — said Pedro Paulo Catonho, journalist for Coluna do Fla.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.