I am appalled that last Thursday large groups of students around the country were prevented from voting and that outside at least one polling station in Sheffield students were segregated into a "low-priority" queue by electoral officers.

This outrageous action disenfranchised great numbers of first-time voters. At a time when the general consensus is that young people are apathetic about democracy, a great amount of work by the National Union of Students, individual students' unions, the Electoral Commission and students themselves has proven that young people are more politically engaged than ever. Electoral offices around the country reported a huge late surge in young people registering to vote, a direct result of our Vote for Students campaign.

Unfortunately, what appears to be the deplorable decisions and actions of a few electoral officials has put all that hard work under threat. The Electoral Commission has promised a review of this and the NUS will be following that review closely to ensure that those disenfranchised by the chaos of 6 May are given justice and that those in charge of upholding the democratic right of all legitimate voters are held to account for their behaviour.

Aaron Porter

NUS president-elect

• In the last Zimbabwe elections, the polling stations, especially in Harare (an MDC stronghold), could not cope with the numbers of people wanting to vote. So the opening hours were extended after an emergency court ruling upheld by the police, with some remaining open all night. After the election our media labelled the electoral process as corrupt and unfair. On Thursday we had the police assisting in closing the polling stations and preventing people casting their vote.

Colin Surrey

New Barnet, Hertfordshire

• There is one reform which ought to be uncontentious. That polling should always be on a Thursday is a post-1918 convention which could easily be changed. Sundays in our present social climate would be a much sounder choice. This is one reform which could easily be put in place within weeks.

Peter O'Malley

Southwell, Nottinghamshire