SECTION 43A. State elections and primaries; officers to be elected; manner and order of appearance on ballots

At state elections and primaries at which any of the following offices are to be voted for, such offices shall appear on ballots and on ballot labels on voting machines in the following order consecutively:—Presidential elector, senator in congress, governor and lieutenant governor, as a group at a state election, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and receiver general, auditor, congressman, councillor, senator and representative in the general court; all other offices to be voted for shall immediately follow said offices consecutively, in such order as the secretary of state may determine; and on ballots, and on ballot labels on voting machines on which the names of the candidates of each political party are arranged in a vertical row, questions to the voters shall follow all of said offices, in such order as the secretary of state may determine.

On ballot labels on voting machines used at state elections and primaries there shall be a space separating the names of the candidates for the office of senator in congress from the names of the candidates for the office of governor, which space shall be not less than one inch in width horizontally when the names of the candidates of each political party are arranged in a horizontal row or one inch in depth vertically when the names of the candidates of each political party are arranged in a vertical row.

On ballots at state elections at which the office of presidential elector is to be voted for, said office shall appear on the ballot in the first column at the left side thereof and the office of senator in congress, if any is to be voted for, shall appear in the same column beneath said office of presidential elector; on ballots at state election and primaries at which the office of presidential elector is not to be voted for, the office of senator in congress, if any is to be voted for, shall appear in the first column at the left side thereof, the groups of candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall follow. If neither of the offices of presidential elector or senator in congress is to be voted for, the groups of candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall appear on the ballot at the top of the first column at the left of the ballot.