Washington State plans an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. There’s no mention in the article of a request for rehearing en banc. Even if Washington does not request it, any judge of the Ninth Circuit may request an en banc vote sua sponte.
The WSJ law blog says the case has “cert. granted” written all over it. I continue to believe an en banc rehearing is a distinct possibility.
One issue lurking in the background is constitutional. If section 2 of the VRA, properly interpreted, requires barring felon disenfranchisement laws, is section 2 unconstitutional as exceeding congressional power (an issue parallel to the section 5 issue in NAMUDNO)? I addressed the section 2 power issue in this article.