On September 9, the Republican National Committee asked for a rehearing in the Third Circuit in Eakin v Adams County Board of Elections, 25-1644. This is the lawsuit over the much-litigated Pennsylvania law that says a postal ballot voter must include the date the voter put the ballot in the mail on the outer envelope. No other state has such a law. The Third Circuit had invalidated the law because the panel did not believe the requirement serves any purpose. When postal ballots arrive in Pennsylvania elections offices, each envelope is date-stamped.

The panel decision had been 3-0, and the judge who signed the opinion is a Republican appointee, Judge D. Brooks Smith. But Smith is not a full-time judge, so he can’t vote on the rehearing request. The Third Circuit has thirteen full-time judges, including seven appointed by Republican presidents, and six appointed by Democratic presidents. The issue seems to be a partisan issue, so the rehearing vote is likely to be close. Here is the request for rehearing.