DETROIT -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation headed into a Detroit court Tuesday afternoon for an emergency hearing over Detroit's absentee ballots, Local 4 reported.

FBI officials said as a result of the hearing, all absentee ballots and materials related to the absentee ballots will be separated from other ballots and held by the Michigan Secretary of State.

Authorities told Local 4 that the ballots will still be counted, but will be held separate so they can be pinpointed in the case of a challenge being issued by a candidate.

FBI agents are checking into allegations that people used the names of the dead to cast ballots, that ballots were mailed improperly and that the clerk gave improper assistance to people incapable of voting.

Last week, Chief Wayne County Circuit Judge Mary Beth Kelly ordered state and Wayne County election officials to oversee absentee voting after ruling that City Clerk Jackie Currie has been breaking state law in how she handles the ballots and supervises the ambassadors who help elderly and disabled voters fill them out.

The state appeals court denied an emergency request Tuesday to hand oversight of absentee ballots back to Currie.

The motion, filed on behalf of Currie and the City of Detroit Election Commission, says Kelly lacked jurisdiction in the matter. It also says Kelly improperly reinstated portions of an order deemed "null and void" by the appeals court and ignored violations of Federal Voting Rights statutes and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Leonard Young, an election consultant on Currie's staff, said Kelly's ruling has prohibited senior and disabled voters from getting the assistance they need.

"Do you know what Mary Beth Kelly stopped us from doing? We normally had elections assistants standing out there who would go to the cars and help these people," Young said. "We can't do that now, so now people got to hobble on crutches and canes."

The suit further accuses Kelly of violating due process by "running the proceedings in an 'ambush' mode, leading to the 'kangaroo court' style proceedings and the 'witch hunt' that has ensued."

On Friday, Kelly held an emergency hearing and said there was credible testimony that Currie's workers violated a previous court order by continuing the ambassador program.

Earlier, Kelly found Currie guilty of criminal contempt of court for defying her order and mailing 132,000 absentee ballot applications to people who didn't request them.

Kelly made her rulings in a lawsuit filed by Maureen Taylor, a City Council candidate who lost in the August primary but sued alleging that fraud kept her from winning or getting a recount.