Voters in Germany’s two eastern states are due to cast their ballots in elections in which the far right is expected to perform strongly.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been polling top in Thuringia ahead of Sunday’s vote, while the party has been running neck-and-neck for first place with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Saxony.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and its coalition partners have been struggling in recent polls.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters rallied in Thuringia’s regional capital, Erfurt, denouncing the anti-immigrant AfD as fascists. The AfD says Germany needs to expel illegal migrants.

Polling stations across the two German states are scheduled to open at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT).

In Thuringia, the AfD is widely expected to emerge as the biggest party.

Meanwhile, the SPD – along with its Green and Liberal coalition partners – have been doing so badly in Thuringia, they may not even get a single seat in the state parliament.

The AfD is officially classed as right-wing extremist in Thuringia, while its highly controversial regional leader Björn Höcke was recently fined for using a Nazi slogan – though he denies doing so knowingly.

In Saxony, the AfD is vying for the first place with the CDU.

Last week’s knife attack in western Germany, in which a Syrian asylum seeker and suspected Islamist is accused of killing three people, has fuelled fierce criticism of how successive governments have handled migration.

Even if the AfD emerges as the biggest party in both states, it does not mean it will take power, as other political parties have publicly ruled out any collaboration with it to form a majority.

Still, the poll results will be seen as a litmus test ahead of Germany’s federal elections in 2025.