Section 42. Registration as a voter shall be by affidavit of registration made in conformity with the requirements of this chapter. Except as provided in section forty-two A, every person whose name has not been entered in the annual register in accordance with sections thirty-four through thirty-seven inclusive, or a corresponding provision of law applicable to a city or town having a listing board, must, in order to register as a voter, make an affidavit of registration as provided in this chapter and in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.