An Alabama organization that advocates for visually impaired people is suing three Alabama counties, alleging they do not have an accessible absentee ballot option for blind and print-disabled voters.

The National Federation of the Blind of Alabama and four people — Beverly Clayton, Gilley Presley, Dr. Eric Peebles and David Rissling — filed the lawsuit in Tuscaloosa federal court against the absentee election managers of Jefferson, Mobile and Tuscaloosa counties.

The suit claims the counties violate federal law by not providing an accessible way to mark and return absentee ballots.

While blind voters and voters who have trouble reading print use screen readers or magnification programs to vote independently and privately, according to the organization, the counties being sued do not have remote vote-by-mail systems that allow those technologies to be used.

Such technology exists to allow those voters to read, mark and return absentee ballots electronically, according to the federation, which noted that other states allow the technology to be used. While a remote vote-by-mail system is made available to military members and overseas members by Alabama, the state had not allowed voters with disabilities to use it.

“Alabama has an abysmal record of broken promises and failure to respect and protect the rights of the state’s blind voters,” said Barbara Manuel, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama, in a statement Tuesday announcing the lawsuit. “We cannot tolerate this state of affairs and are determined to change it.”

The Southern Policy Law Center’s attorneys are among those representing the plaintiffs.

“These three Alabama counties have effectively denied voters with visual and print disabilities of their right to cast an absentee ballot in secret,” said SPLC Senior Staff Attorney Jess Unger. “We are suing on their behalf to ensure they have full access to the democratic process.”