The Department of Homeland Security will treat January 6 as an event of special significance to national security.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has designated Congress’s counting and certification of electoral votes in the upcoming presidential race as a special national security event, the U.S. Secret Service said Wednesday.

The agency said it is the first such certification event, scheduled for Jan. 6, 2025, to receive such a designation.

The move, which is an apparent attempt to avoid a repeat of the violence that occurred on January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, was first reported by The Washington Post.

“National security events are events of the highest national importance,” Eric Ranaghan, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Dignitary Protection Division, said in a statement.

Ranaghan added that the agency “in collaboration with our federal, state and local partners is committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety of this event and its attendees.”

The agency said the appointment came at the request of Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. Reports from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and the Government Accountability Office also made a similar recommendation.

A Steering Committee comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement and public safety officials has begun planning for the event, which will mark four years since the Capitol riot.

More than 1,470 people have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to the Associated Press. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has suggested he would pardon the rioters if he wins the November election.

The presidential inauguration scheduled for January 20, 2025, has also been designated a national security event, as have both parties’ conventions this summer.

During Tuesday night’s presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News, Trump suggested he had no regrets about his actions on Jan. 6, placing blame on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the violence.

The former president once again refused to acknowledge his defeat in the 2020 election.