After two-and-a-half years in government, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left coalition is expected to lose ground during the European Parliament elections being held across the country on Sunday.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is meanwhile vying to become the second-strongest party, according to polls.
Sunday is the last day of the continent-wide ballot which began on Thursday and takes in 27 EU member states.
As Germany's only nationwide poll between the 2021 and 2025 federal elections, and just months ahead of several state elections in September, the EU vote is seen as an important electoral test for Scholz.
Smooth start
Voting in Europe's largest economy, which will provide 96 of the 720 seats in the EU Parliament, started without any major incidents.
"So far we have had no news from the state electoral administrations that there have been any relevant disruptions. So from our point of view, it's going normally and well so far," Federal Returning Officer Ruth Brand said earlier on Sunday.
In a statement, Brand emphasized the "particular importance of the election for the voters' influence on future political decisions in the European Union."
Conservatives take the lead
Final polls for the European election put Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) at around 15%, far below the 25.7% which secured the party's victory in federal elections in 2021.
The prospects are not much better for Scholz's coalition partners. At around 15% in the polls, the Greens are far below the impressive 20.5% they achieved in the 2019 European elections. The liberal Free Democrats (FDP), meanwhile, are projected to garner only 5%.
These three parties, which make up Germany's coalition government, are set to collect only 35% of the vote.
The opposition conservative CDU/CSU bloc alone tops the EU polls at around 30% and the AfD is vying for second place at around 14%.
Polls also show the newly formed Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) gaining ground at around 7%. The populist party combines left–wing social policy with an anti-immigrant stance and criticism of the European Union. It has yet to be tested at the ballot box.
Scholz, Von derLeyen cast ballots
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cast his vote for the European elections in Potsdam, near Berlin, where he has his constituency.
According to a dpa photographer, Scholz arrived with his wife Britta Ernst on Sunday and queued at the polling station at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, cast her vote for the European Parliament elections at a voting location near her home in Lower Saxony on Sunday morning.
The 65-year-old von der Leyen is hoping to keep the EU's top job for a second term as president of the European Commission.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician arrived with her husband Heiko at the small polling station in Burgdorf-Beinhorn in the Hanover region.
Von der Leyen greeted poll workers, but refrained from making a statement or answering any questions from journalists.
First forecast after 8 pm
The most populous EU country accounts for 96 of the 720 seats in the EU Parliament, with around 65 million eligible voters. For the first time 16- and 17-year olds can vote in these European polls, which may also play a key role in the outcome.
Polls in Germany close at 6 pm (1600 GMT).
