Kevin Shelley, the embattled California secretary of state facing multiple investigations for allegedly accepting illegal campaign contributions, abruptly canceled a mass mailing of absentee ballot applications after county voting officials complained it was heavy-handed and wasteful. The registrars, some of whom question whether Shelley is more interested in promoting himself than in helping them register and motivate voters, were furious after learning last week that he planned to send nearly 4 million permanent absentee ballot applications. "It's mind-boggling," Conny McCormack, the registrar in Los Angeles County, said this week. "It's duplicative and it's got his name all over it. We...