Alexa “Allie” Rothenberg is director of operations and strategy at Democracy Docket, a public interest law firm founded by Democratic Party attorney Marc Elias and dedicated to supporting election administration, redistricting, and voter access policies seen as advantageous to the Democratic Party. ¹

Education and Early Career

Rothenberg graduated from Connecticut College with a bachelor’s degree, attended the University of Edinburgh, and worked as an organizer for the Democratic Party of Virginia from August to November 2016. From January 2017 until August 2021, Rothenberg worked for attorney Marc Elias in the political law group of Perkins Coie, ² the law firm that commissioned Christopher Steele’s Russian dossier on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. ³ Since August 2020, Rothenberg has worked as director of operations and strategy at Democracy Docket. ⁴

Democracy Docket

Democracy Docket files lawsuits designed to loosen voter integrity laws and enact other voting policies that the Democratic Party considers advantageous. Elias has said every state should embrace four pillars of voting: “free” postage on all mail-in ballots; ballots that arrive after election day should be counted if they are postmarked on election day or earlier; prohibiting signature-matching requirements for ballots; and permitting nonprofit and community groups to “ballot harvest.” ⁵

In a March 2020 message announcing the formation of Democracy Docket, Elias encouraged anyone who has an “urgent” request to contact Rothenberg. ⁶

Elias thanked Rothenberg for her help in “editing and improving” an article that calls on elections officials to count ballots cast in the wrong precinct toward statewide or national races, including the presidency. The article also criticizes election officials for rejecting mail-in ballots in which “the voter’s signature on the ballot return envelope did not match the voter signature on file.” ⁷ The organization has filed dozens of lawsuits against legislative maps drawn up by elected officials in such Republican-dominated states as Florida, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Arkansas, accusing officials of “gerrymandering.” ⁸

1. “Meet Our Team.” Democracy Docket. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.democracydocket.com/meet-our-team/
2. “Perkins Coie and its Political Law Group Announce the Formation of the Independent Firm Elias Law Group LLP.” Perkins Coie. August 22, 2021. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.perkinscoie.com/en/news-insights/perkins-coie-and-its-political-law-group-announce-the-formation-of-the-independent-firm-elias-law-group-llp.html.
3. Entous, Adam. “Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossier.” Washington Post. October 24, 2017. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/clinton-campaign-dnc-paid-for-research-that-led-to-russia-dossier/2017/10/24/226fabf0-b8e4-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html?utm_term=.3bf449cb9c07.
4. “Alexa Rothenberg.” Linkedin. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alrothenberg.
5. Michelle Newblom. “‘Democracy is literally on the ballot’ and Marc Elias’s Democracy Docket is fighting for your right to vote.” LexBlog. August 18, 2020. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.lexblog.com/2020/08/18/democracy-is-literally-on-the-ballot-and-marc-elias-democracy-docket-provides-the-resources-to-ensure-your-right-to-vote.
6. “Democracy Docket.” March 5, 2020. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://department-lists.uci.edu/pipermail/law-election/2020-March/017150.html.
7. ^[1] Marc Elias. “We Are Not Counting Every Vote.” Medium. January 13, 2020. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://medium.com/@marceelias/we-are-not-counting-every-vote-e3b91b4a96f1.
8. “Our Cases.” Democracy Docket. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.democracydocket.com/cases.