DETROIT -- A judge ordered Thursday that two monitors oversee City Clerk Jackie Currie's handling of the upcoming election in Detroit, Local 4 reported.

Judge Mary Beth Kelly, of Wayne County Circuit Court, issued a preliminary injunction, which sets up strict controls for Tuesday's election, specifically for the handling of absentee ballots.

"Insufficient oversight of these election assistants or monitors presently exists, which has created an environment in which irregularities can and have occurred," Kelly said.

Currie's election track record has been under a microscope after reports surfaced that some election aids were going to nursing homes in Detroit, allegedly encouraging the residents to vote a certain way, the station reported.

Currie told Local 4 Thursday night that she has about 238 senior citizens in homes and, "Some of them can't get out and they want to vote and they call me."

Her lawyer, Steven Reifman, said that the monitors appointed by the judge are not needed.

"I don't feel there is enough evidence to sustain the result, but the court made the determination and we're going to consider whether or not it needs to be appealed," he said. "We've appealed once in this case and we may do it again."

Phil Schmucker, a 63-year-old who has cerebral palsy, told Local 4's Derricke Dennis an election worker -- or ambassador, as they were formerly called -- helped him with his absentee ballot a little too much.

Schmucker: "There was conversation between me and the advisors that shouldn't have happened."

Dennis: "What kind of conversation?"

Schmucker: "About who I was going to vote for."

Kelly ruled Thursday that election workers will not be able to help absentee voters unless they're asked, and that they will be required to keep thorough records.

The judge-appointed monitors are expected to be present when absentee ballots are counted, and will review the August primary results and question anyone who knows of any impropriety, the station reported.

Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land issued a news release on Friday, encouraging residents who plan to cast absent-voter ballots in the Nov. 8 election to learn about their rights and responsibilities.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot by mail is 2 p.m. Saturday. To vote an absentee ballot in person at a clerk's office, you must do so by 4 p.m. Monday.

Voters who qualify for an emergency absentee ballot can get one after 2 p.m. up until 4 p.m. on Election Day. Valid reasons for an emergency ballot include a physical disability or last-minute travel necessitated by a family illness or death that makes it impossible to apply for an absent-voter ballot by the Saturday deadline.