Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to get on the ballot in all 50 states. It won't be easy

With many Americans unhappy at the prospect of a rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, voters may be more open than usual to third-party and independent candidates come fall.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who has a famous political last name and is a longtime leader of the anti-vaccine movement and a promoter of various conspiracy theories — is among the candidates hoping to appeal to voters looking for alternatives to Biden and Trump.

The effect Kennedy's independent candidacy could have on the general election remains an open question. Both Republican and Democratic leaders have called Kennedy's presidential run a potential spoiler campaign.

But first, he actually needs to get on ballots, a complicated and expensive state-by-state undertaking.

"I think it's sometimes overlooked the number of things you need," said Michael Arno, who runs a petition signature gathering company and has worked on ballot access for various independent candidates and the No Labels effort. "If you're going to run against the two major political parties, you have to operate like you're one of the two major political parties."

Millions of dollars for signature gathering

Amaryllis Kennedy, the campaign's director and the candidate's daughter in-law, told NPR that despite the support polls say he has, "he cannot win unless he is on the ballot."

"And unlike President Biden and former President Trump, he still has to collect over a million signatures despite all of that support in order to be on the ballot," she said. "So, it's a large part of our focus right now."

So far, the campaign reports to have enough signatures to appear on the presidential ballot in Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire and Utah. A super PAC supporting