“The main thing is, they had assets in one state,” he said of the People’s Party. The Green Party was ultimately able to get on the ballot in 30 states in 2020, including three of the eight most competitive battleground states. It says it has qualified for access to the ballot in four of those states for 2024: Wisconsin, North Carolina, Michigan and Florida.

The process of qualifying for the ballot varies widely from state to state, but often requires gathering thousands of signatures. Legal challenges are common. The Green Party faced lawsuits in four states in 2020.

Peter Daou, Mr. West’s campaign manager, said that the West campaign had weighed these likely complications against other factors, such as the Green Party’s highly decentralized nominating process.

“You have to consider the pros and cons, and he did,” he said. “And he came down on the side of wanting to be 100 percent laser-focused on people as opposed to the party process.”

In an interview before Mr. West’s announcement, Mr. Nader, who ran for president as an independent again in 2004 and 2008, said he was skeptical of the Green Party’s ability to adequately support a presidential candidacy. “The Green Party has a lot of organizing to do,” he said.

But an independent candidacy, Mr. Nader said, came with far more hurdles. “The Green Party has an identity,” he said, noting that the party was also on numerous ballots already. “If you’re going to do it independent, you have to be an organizational genius as well as a great speechmaker. And you’ve got to raise a lot of money.”