For presidential candidates who are not the Republican or Democratic Party nominee, getting on the ballot for the general election is a state-by-state, make-or-break scramble. Each state has unique (and sometimes confusing) election laws, and the process for qualifying as a minor party — like the Green Party — is typically different from the process of getting on the ballot as an independent candidate, like the theologian Cornel West or the environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., neither of whom have a national party affiliation. (Jill Stein, a lawyer who was the Green Party’s presidential candidate in 2012 and 2016, is expected to be named the party’s nominee at their August convention.)

Though it depends on the state, the Green Party, like other minor national parties, typically secures ballot access by virtue of its performance in a preceding election. For example, the Green Party recently lost its ballot line in New York State because its candidate did not meet a strict new voter threshold — 2 percent of the total votes cast — in the 2020 presidential election. And so to get on the New York ballot this year, the Green Party must gather 45,000 signatures in a six-week window that closes at the end of May.

This is the same process that Mr. Kennedy and Mr. West must go through to gain ballot access in New York and in dozens of other states. Some states have rules against people coming in from out of state to help a campaign procure signatures; others have rules that restrict a campaign’s ability to hire paid canvassers instead of relying solely on volunteers. Some states allow months for independent candidates to gather signatures, while others have short windows. Some states require a vice presidential nominee on the petition. The work of actually gathering thousands of signatures, and ensuring that all these rules are met, is grueling and often costly.