Petition Initiates Special City Council Election In Malvern

A special election will take place Tuesday, Sept. 9, for two seats on the Malvern City Council. Two months later, the same two seats will be on the ballot for the city’s regular municipal election.

One of the seats is vacant following the June departure of Heather West and the other is occupied by Miller Cambridge, who was appointed to the council to complete the 4-year term of Christina Androy , who left the council in 2024. The terms for both seats expire Dec. 31, 2025, along with a seat occupied by Amber Lidgett.

Katie Dodge, Election Deputy with the Mills County Auditor’s Office, said the city planned to appoint a person to replace West for the remaining weeks of the term, but a citizen petition forced the special election.

“The city planned to appoint,” she said. “However, they received a petition from an eligible elector calling for the city to hold a special election. Since they received the petition, they must hold the special election.”

The city of Malvern will be responsible for the entire cost of the special election, projected to be $4,000, Dodge noted, in addition to its portion of the cost for the regular November election.

Dodge said it’s her understanding the city intends to appoint a person to fill the vacant seat until the special election. She added that Cambridge’s seat will be on the special election ballot because he was appointed when Androy left the council.

“Whenever a person is appointed to fill a vacancy of an elected official, they are fulfilling that term either to the term’s end or until the next intervening election, which in this case is the special election,” she said. “That is why both Androy’s and West’s seats will be on the ballot for the special election, as both Androy and West’s terms are up in December 2025.”

Malvern voters can submit a request for an absentee ballot for the Sept. 9 special election to be mailed to them. Forms can be requested at the Mills County Auditor’s Office through its website, over the phone at 712-527-3146 or on the IowaSecretary of State’s website. Requested ballots will be mailed out starting Wednesday Aug. 20, depending on ballot readiness. The deadline for voters to request the mailing of an absentee ballot is Monday, Aug. 25, at 5 p.m.