"It means that the next Duma may approve any laws, including constitutional laws, including amendments to the constitution, and a certain part of civil society will have no say," she said.
United Russia has benefited not only from Putin's political support, but also from the vast resources of state and regional authorities, according to rival candidates, analysts and international election observers.
The state television networks have given United Russia lavish coverage, while deriding other parties, especially the Communists, or ignoring them altogether. Aides in the Kremlin have coordinated the party's strategy, while the party's leaders serve as the interior and emergency situations ministers under Putin.
The interior minister, Boris Gryzlov, has appeared on television more than any other politician except for Putin himself, often in a capacity that blurred the line between party leader and government official. After a suicide bomber destroyed a commuter train on Friday, killing more than 40 people, Gryzlov delivered an angry denunciation of the attack, vowing to punish "these animals" responsible.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has sent a delegation to observe the election, has issued a stinging report citing "a clear bias" in media coverage and abuses of government resources on behalf of United Russia's candidates.
At least two dozen candidates from other parties have been thrown off ballots by regional authorities loyal to United Russia. Others have reported harassment by the police and other government officials.
Municipal workers in Moscow and other cities have repeatedly removed posters and seized campaign materials of rivals.
Mikhail Zadornov, a deputy from Yabloko running for re-election in southwest Moscow, said government workers from the mayor to street cleaners had been deployed on behalf of United Russia.
"This is my fourth campaign for the Duma," he said, "and I have never come across such use of administrative resources."
Boris Fyodorov, who is campaigning in another district in Moscow, said he became so frustrated by official harassment that he conducted a "sting operation." From his car, he videotaped police officers detaining two of his campaigners after telling them -- wrongly -- that they needed permission to leaflet.
It was a small victory, he lamented. "I can't be everywhere."
Some candidates have openly warned that the authorities could manipulate the results. The veteran Communist Party chief, Gennady Zhuganov, filed a protest with the Central Election Committee on Friday after 800,000 forged ballots were discovered in Bashkortostan, a region on the Volga River whose governor is a leader of United Russia.
With 28 governors or mayors on United Russia's ticket, "there are grounds to presume that the printing of forged ballots and preparations for rigging are assuming a large-scale character," Zhuganov wrote in his protest.
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