The federal government has designated Congress' certification of electoral votes in the upcoming 2024 presidential election to be a "National Special Security Event," the Secret Service announced Wednesday.
The special designation was approved by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and means law enforcement agencies will dramatically beef up security for the Jan. 6, 2025, tally - in an effort to prevent another riot at the Capitol Building.
"National Special Security Events are events of the highest national significance," Eric Ranaghan, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Dignitary Protective Division, said in a statement.
"The US Secret Service, in collaboration with our federal, state, and local partners are committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants," he added.
Next year's count of state electoral votes, conducted by lawmakers during a joint session of Congress about two months after Election Day, will be the first since rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's 2020 victory over Donald Trump.
The Secret Service noted that the special designation followed a request made by Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser, and that DHS took recommendations made by the House Select January 6 Committee and the Government Accountability Office into consideration as well.
An Executive Steering Committee composed of "senior representatives from federal, state and local law enforcement and public safety partners" will convene in the coming weeks to flesh out the security procedures for the event, according to the agency.
"This designation allows for significant resources from the federal government, as well as from state and local partners, to be utilized in a comprehensive security plan," the Secret Service said in a press release.
"When an event is designated a National Special Security Event, the US Secret Service assumes its mandated role as the lead agency for the design and implementation of the operational security plan."
The Jan. 20, 2025, presidential inauguration, and both the Democratic and Republican national conventions held earlier this year were previously given the special designation by the Secret Service.
Both conventions were marked by a significant presence of federal, state and local law enforcement officers and multiple layers of security perimeters, which prevented protesters from disrupting official proceedings.