Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 54, § 42A

The state secretary and the city or town clerks shall cause each question appearing upon ballots prepared by them to be designated as follows: Questions submitted to the people under Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth shall appear first in order upon the ballot numbered consecutively, and the first such question so appearing shall be designated by the numeral 1; additional questions shall follow numbered so that all questions appearing upon such ballot shall be numbered consecutively; provided, however, that the fair, concise summary of any measure submitted to the voters under the provisions of said Article XLVIII shall be accompanied on the ballot by the one sentence statement describing the effect of a yes or no vote, prepared as required in section 53. The questions required to be placed upon the official ballot at a biennial state election by section eleven of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight shall be numbered as a single question having three parts, and the questions required to be placed upon the official ballot at such an election by section fourteen of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A shall be numbered as a single question having two parts.