The federal government has designated Congress' certification of the electoral votes in the upcoming 2024 presidential election a “special national security event,” the Secret Service announced Wednesday.
The special designation was approved by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and means law enforcement will significantly step up security ahead of the Jan. 6, 2025, count to prevent new violence at the Capitol.
“National special security events are events of the greatest importance to the nation,” said Special Agent Eric Lanagan of the Secret Service's High-Level Security Division. It said in a statement.
“The U.S. Secret Service is committed to working with our federal, state and local partners to develop and implement a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants,” he added.
The counting of state electoral votes next year, which will be conducted by lawmakers in a joint session of Congress about two months after Election Day, will be the first since rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
The Secret Service noted that the special designation follows a request from Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and that the Department of Homeland Security also took into consideration recommendations from the House of Representatives Select Committee on January 6 and the Government Accountability Office.
The agency said an executive steering committee made up of “senior representatives from federal, state and local law enforcement and public safety partners” will convene in the coming weeks to flesh out security procedures for the event.
“This designation allows us to leverage significant resources from the federal government, as well as state and local partners, in comprehensive security planning,” the Secret Service said in a press release.
“Once an incident is designated a national special security event, the U.S. Secret Service assumes its mandated role as the lead agency for the design and implementation of an operational security plan.”
The 2025 presidential inauguration and both the Democratic and Republican national conventions held earlier this year have already been designated special locations by the Secret Service.
Both conventions featured heavy federal, state and local law enforcement presence and multi-layered security to prevent protesters from disrupting official proceedings.
