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.

The ruling SPD has just scraped by in a critical electoral test, but a closer look at the numbers show trouble for next year's elections.

STORY: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appears to have fended off a far right victory in his home state on Sunday.Early exit polls showed Sholz's Social Democrats (SDP) scored almost 31% of the vote in the Brandburg state election over Alternative for Germany (AfD),