Germany vote tests public opinion before election

About 13 million people are going to the polls in Germany on Sunday in what is seen as the last big test of public opinion before September’s national elections.

Voters in the country’s most populous state of Northrhine Westphalia are casting their ballot in a race which pits the two largest parties against each other.

Polls suggest the Social Democrats could be heading for defeat in battle with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane reports from Northrhine Westphalia.