> Since the next release of 3.2 is the *last* release of 3.2, yet it
> will remain supported by distros well beyond that, yes, I think this
> should block the final 3.2 release.

But the same will be true for any other bug that 3.2 has. If they
don't get fixed now, they will remain unfixed. Should we therefore
delay the last release of 3.2 until all bugs in it are fixed?

The consequence instead should be that people experiencing this
bug will have to move to Python 3.3 to get it fixed. Since it only
affects NumPy users (AFAICT), and then only those who use tobytes,
I wouldn't consider this bug even critical.