Following an invitation by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, ODIHR established an election observation mission on 3 November.

The mission was headed by Professor Rita Süssmuth of Germany and consisted of 17 core team members and 38 long-term observers from 17 OSCE participating States, based in Moscow and 16 other regional centres.

Ahead of election day, the mission was joined by short-term observers, including delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Together, they deployed some 480 observers from 42 OSCE participating States.

According to the mission's final report: "While advantages of incumbency may be generally recognized, in the context of the 7 December State Duma elections, these advantages seriously distorted the process. The democratic norms of voter access to information and equal conditions for candidates and parties to convey their message to the electorate were severely compromised. The widespread use of State administrative resources blurred the distinction between United Russia and the executive administration. The main countrywide State broadcasters displayed favoritism towards United Russia and, in doing so, failed to meet their legal obligation to provide equal treatment to electoral participants, also a fundamental principle of democratic elections."