Bavarians to decide on 2022 Winter Olympic bid

Citizens in Munich and other parts of the southern German state of Bavaria began voting Sunday to decide whether or not to launch a bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Around 1.3 million people in Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the districts of Berchtesgadener Land and Traunstein are eligible to vote. If a majority in any of the four regions opposes the plan, the bid will not go ahead, reports Xinhua.

Munich, which staged the 1972 Summer Olympics, was beaten by South Korea's Pyeongchang to host the 2018 Winter Olympics two years ago.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide who will host the 2022 Games in July 2015. Beijing and the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou have already launched a joint bid.