Germans in the state of Brandenburg were voting in a regional election on Sunday with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expected to finish first, building on successes in other eastern states and beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in one of their traditional strongholds.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) managed to fend off the far-right AfD in a state election in Brandenburg on Sunday after trailing behind the party throughout the campaign, according to exit polls.

Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats appear to have held off a strong challenge from the far-right Alternative for Germany to retain power in the eastern region of Brandenburg, sparing the chancellor and his party another embarrassing electoral setback.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is predicted to come first in an election in Brandenburg on Sunday, seeking to build on gains in other eastern states this month and beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in a traditional stronghold.

Brandenburg, close to Berlin, has been governed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) ever since German reunification. But two million voters are heading to the polls on Sunday for a tightly fought regional election that Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) stands a chance of winning.

Germans began casting ballots Sunday for a regional election in a formerly communist eastern state where the far-right AfD party is narrowly ahead in opinion polls.The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany has long railed against Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unpopular coalition government,