The Arizona requirement for independent candidate petitions is 3% of the number of people who are registered to vote, but who are not registered as members of any qualified party. However, any registered voter may sign for an independent candidate.

The 3% calculation is based on the registration data of March 1 of an election year. The Secretary of State recently released registration data for March 1, so it is now possible to know the exact independent petition requirement. For statewide office it is 36,697 signatures.

The requirement is irrational, because Arizona requires 23,041 signatures for a new party. If the purpose of ballot access petitions is to keep the ballot uncrowded, it makes no sense for Arizona to require almost 60% more signatures for a single statewide independent than for an entire new party. A new party in Arizona could run someone for all the partisan offices in the state, thus making a far greater impact on the general election ballot than a single independent candidate would make.

Rocky De La Fuente is currently suing Arizona over the number of signatures for an independent candidate. The lawsuit has moved slowly. Discovery is underway.