(NewsNation) — American voters are increasingly frustrated with the nation’s two-party system, but getting a third-party presidential candidate to the White House is a massive undertaking that hasn’t been successful since the 1800s.

Reports have circulated that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is considering a presidential bid, possibly on a ticket backed by the non-profit No Labels. The organization says it advocates for policies that align with what “the majority of Americans” want and “less to extremists on the far left and right.”

As for reports about a potential partnership between them and Manchin, No Labels Chief Strategist Ryan Clancy said “that’s all just speculation” and they aren’t currently backing any candidate.

That doesn’t mean they won’t in the future, however.

If No Labels does choose to nominate a candidate, the road to get their name on the ballot — let alone into the White House — will be filled with hurdles major party candidates can typically bypass.

That includes breaking through the stigma of potentially wasting a vote on a third-party candidate, as well as collecting more signatures across the country.

“You’re in supermarket parking lots, outside football tailgates with a clipboard trying to get signatures,” Clancy said.

In the U.S. an eligible person can run for president if they are nominated by a political party, run as an independent and petition each state for ballot access, or run as a write-in.

More than a century has passed since someone not affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties was elected. That success belonged to Millard Fillmore, a member of the Whig party and the nation’s 13th president.

Forming a new political party often means starting at square one, but polling over the past several years has reflected a growing fatigue among American voters tired of the two-party system.

The number of people who now identify as politically independent has reached new heights since 2009, according to more than a decade’s work of Gallup survey results. Independents now make up 41% of eligible voters, outgrowing the 28% who identify as Republicans and another 28% who identify as Democrats.

Some politicians have seized this moment of polarization. Former Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang started his own party called Forward, co-chaired by Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey.

If ever there were a chance for a serious independent or third-party competitor it’s now, Clancy said.

“When we look at the model for what would a ticket like this actually need to win the in the Electoral College in a three-way race, it works out to about anywhere between 35% and 37% of the electorate,” he said.

Although No Labels isn’t committed to a candidate yet, they’re laying the groundwork to get on the ballot. So-called ballot access is more complicated for third-party groups.

Requirements vary by state, but often entail the collection of signatures.

In Illinois, for example, an independent or new party candidate must file 25,000 signatures of registered voters, Illinois State Board of Elections Spokesman Matt Dietrich said. They can begin passing petitions two weeks after the primary election.

“The biggest hurdle any independent or new party candidate faces is a much higher threshold for the number of nominating signatures required,” Dietrich said. “This is mainly because they are not going through a primary election and are trying to go directly on the Nov. 5 General Election ballot.”

Alternatively, third-party candidates who want to appear on Virginia’s ballot must collect petition signatures from 5,000 eligible voters and 13 electors. Candidates, however, are encouraged to collect at least 7,500 signatures with at least 300 from each congressional district, since unregistered people sometimes sign petitions.

As of Tuesday, No Labels had secured more than 600,000 signatures and was on the ballot or expected to be on the ballot in four states. They anticipate being on the ballot in more than 20 states by the end of the year, Clancy said.

Although Clancy said No Labels didn’t set out to become its own political party, some states will require them to identify as a party on the ballot.  

For now, however, the group is looking only at the 2024 election and would view their nominee as an “insurance policy” for voters who are unimpressed with both the Democratic and Republican candidates, Clancy said. No Labels would not fund or run the candidate’s campaign, according to the non-profit’s website.

“The way we often describe it is what we’re building is a launching pad,” Clancy said. “We’re doing a lot of not glamorous, but necessary administrative and mechanical stuff…If we ultimately nominated a ticket, it would be up for that ticket to build the rocket ship to take them to the White House.”