While Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent, the move won't likely do much to complicate her path to appearing on the ballot in 2024 if she decides to run for re-election.
According to the Arizona Secretary of state, a candidate who wishes to be on the general election ballot without affiliating with a recognized political party need to submit at least 43,492 valid signatures. That figure is about 3% of the unaffiliated registered voters in the state.
It's a relatively low threshold as far as ballot access goes, suggesting that Sinema wouldn't have much trouble getting on the ballot if she wants to run again.
That said, ballot access isn't the big political question looming over Sinema's party switch — that's the question about whether Democrats choose to nominate a candidate themselves, and what impact that might have on what could be a competitive three-way race.
