The Alliance was presented at a press conference in Ramallah on 10 August 2016, chaired by Mustafa Barghouti (General Secretary PNI), Qais Abd al-Karim (Deputy General Secretary DFLP), Bassam as-Salhi (General Secretary PPP), Khalida Jarrar (PFLP), and Zahira Kamal (Fida).^[4] Jarrar stressed that the alliance would act as a third force, seeking to overcome the Fatah-Hamas dichotomy.^[4]

Its candidature was officially registered with the Central Election Commission on 16 August 2016, the first day of registrations.^[7][8][9] The Alliance was assigned the letter Aleph (أ), the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, as its ballot symbol.^[7][8]

On the night of 23 August 2016, unknown gunmen reportedly opened fire on the residence of Nureddin Khalaf, the top candidate of the Alliance in Burqin municipality, Jenin Governorate.^[10]

On 25 August 2016, the Alliance submitted to the Central Election Commission its candidate list for the Gaza Strip,^[11] and indicated that Majida Al-Masri would head its list in the Nablus municipality.^[12][13] In the Jenin municipality, the Alliance nominated PNI activist Mohammad Abu Al-Hija as its top candidate.^[14]

In the Al-Bireh municipality, the Alliance declared that they were continuing the work of the previous 'Al-Bireh for All' list from past elections.^[15] Jamal Al-Nasar was named number-one on the Alliance list in the municipality.^[15]

On 8 September 2016, the Ramallah High Court of Justice postponed the local elections indefinitely.^[16] The Democratic Alliance List and its constituent parties criticized the court ruling.^[17]

At the elections, which took place on 13 May 2017, the Alliance won 5 of the 3,253 contested seats, gaining 0.32% of the votes.

The symbol of the Democratic Alliance List resembles a dove in Palestinian national colours with the head shaped as the ballot symbol of the list, the letter Aleph. The text reads "Palestine deserves the Democratic Alliance".