Missouri Statutes § 115.239 Placement of party candidates on ballot, how determined

1. The party casting the highest number of votes for governor at the last gubernatorial election shall be placed in the first or left-hand column on the ballot. The party casting the next highest number of votes for the same office shall be placed in the next column to the right, and so on until all established parties have been placed. In order of the date their petitions were filed, new parties shall then be placed in columns to the right of the established party receiving the smallest vote for governor. If there is no more than one independent candidate for any office, all independent candidates shall be placed in one column to the right of the new party filing the latest petition. If there is more than one independent candidate for any office, the candidate filing the earliest petition shall be placed in the column to the right of the new party filing the latest petition. The independent candidate filing the next earliest petition shall be placed in the next column to the right, and so on until all independent candidates for the office have been placed.

2. The name of each candidate shall be placed in the appropriate column by the election authority.