Polling booths open in Germany's most populous state

Polling stations opened early on Sunday in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, where nearly 14 million voters are eligible to vote in communal elections that will be closely watched from Berlin.

About 20,000 seats are up for election across local councils in 396 towns and municipalities, 31 districts and the regional parliament for Germany's industrial Ruhr area. Voters will elect mayors, lord mayors and district councillors, among other posts.

The last major election in Germany this year is also being seen as the first political test of public opinion following February's early federal elections.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to carefully examine the results of Sunday's vote, with analysts expecting a boost for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Since 1999, Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has regularly won the most votes statewide in North-Rhine Westphalia's local elections.

In 2020 the CDU won 34.3% of the vote, followed by the centre-left Social Democratic Party with 24.3%. The Greens achieved their best result at the time with 20% and won their first three mayor posts in Aachen, Bonn and Wuppertal.

The (AfD) achieved 5.1% in 2020, below the Free Democrats at 5.6%. The Left Party got 3.8%.