Tennessee Code Title 2. Elections § 2-8-108

(a) The commission shall preserve all paper ballots for six (6) months after the election to which they were cast or offered to be cast and may then dispose of them. During the period in which they are preserved, the packages of ballots shall be kept securely locked and may be opened and the ballots examined only on court order or under chapter 18 of this title.

(b) All other election documents such as applications for all ballots, spoiled and rejected ballots, voter affidavits, records of assistance to voters, etc., shall be preserved by the county election commission for six (6) months or longer if so ordered by a court or by the coordinator of elections. All election documents pertaining to a federal election shall be preserved by the county election commission for twenty-two (22) months.