Miller’s mission: Is it election integrity, or higher office?

We're only weeks away from a major election, which means workers at the Nevada secretary of state's office have less than a month to accomplish their primary goal: getting Secretary of State Ross Miller's picture in front of as many people as possible.

What? You thought their primary objective was getting eligible Nevadans registered to vote while diligently ensuring ineligible voters remain off the rolls?

Like some 400,000 other Nevadans, Las Vegas resident Erna Barton received a postcard last month from Mr. Miller. The card - on which the major graphic element is a color photograph of smiling Mr. Miller himself - promoted the state's new online voter registration system. Those who used the website by Saturday's deadline for online registration had to provide their name, date of birth, Nevada DMV identification number and a Social Security number.

Ms. Barton could have registered through the secretary of state's site (which, you'll never guess, features a large color photo of smiling Mr. Miller as its primary graphic element). The only problem is, Ms. Barton - a longtime legal resident with a green card - isn't eligible to vote. She's a proud Dutch citizen. (Review-Journal columnist Glenn Cook wrote about her experience Sept. 30.)

Scott Gilles, Nevada's deputy secretary of state for elections, couldn't explain how Ms. Barton got her postcard. He also acknowledged that a number of felons got the cards, too. And there really wasn't anything, aside from a few written warnings, to stop a noncitizen or felon from registering on Mr. Miller's new website - assuming the system wasn't in the process of crashing, that is.

An estimated 600,000 Nevadans could register to vote but haven't. Everyone knew early October would bring a rush. But the website set up by Mr. Miller can acknowledge only 3,000 registrations a day, which means 221 of the Nevadans who registered Oct. 2 didn't receive any confirmation. Mr. Miller says these Nevadans should still assume they're all registered - including the felons and resident aliens, presumably.

Ineligible voters are a serious matter. More than 1,000 ineligible felons voted in Minnesota in 2008. That year, Democrat Al Franken beat incumbent Republican Norm Coleman for the U.S. Senate by 312 votes. Sen. Franken's victory gave Majority Leader Harry Reid the 60th Democratic vote he needed to pass ObamaCare.

On Nov. 6, it's possible that fewer than 1,000 votes in sparsely populated Nevada - one of a handful of battleground states - might swing not just the state, but the presidential election.

It's good that Mr. Miller seeks to make it easier for Nevadans to register. But he has an equally important duty to make sure ineligible voters don't gain access to the polls.

The prominent color photos and a new TV advertisement indicate the secretary of state may have his mind on other matters, such as higher office. For now, though, he'd be better advised to focus his efforts on fulfilling his current duties - especially making sure that everyone who votes in Nevada is actually qualified to do so.