At all elections where voting machines may be used, the arrangement of the polling room shall be generally the same as is now provided for by law; the exterior of the voting machine and every part of the polling room shall be in plain view of the election officers; the voting machine shall be placed at least three feet from every wall or partition of the polling room and at least four feet from any table where any of the district election officers may be engaged or seated. The voting machine shall be so placed that the ballots on the face of the machine can be plainly seen by the election officers and the party watchers when not in use by voters. The election officers shall not themselves be, or permit any other person to be, in any position or near any position that will permit one to see or ascertain how a voter votes, or how he has voted. The district election officer attending the machine shall inspect the face of the machine after each voter has cast his vote, to see that the ballots on the face of the machine are in their proper places and have not been mutilated or defaced and that the machine has not been damaged. During elections the door or other covering of the counter compartment of the machine shall not be unlocked or open, or the counters exposed. No person shall be permitted in or about the polling room except as now permitted by law in elections where ballots and ballot boxes are used.