Our good friends at The Uptake report that Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) will sign Democratic Sen.-elect Al Franken's certificate of election today, now that Republican former Sen. Norm Coleman has conceded defeat after the state Supreme Court upheld Franken's super-narrow win.

Pawlenty was put in a tight spot, due to his position as a potential Republican presidential candidate and the possibility of further litigation by Coleman. But with Coleman's concession, Pawlenty has only to exercise a purely ministerial duty.

Franken won't be sworn in as a Senator until next week, because the Senate is not in session. But all the various legal issues that have surrounded this race, from the political to the legal and the most technical, have all been resolved.

Al Franken will be able to go to Washington next week, and be sworn into the Senate seat formerly held by his old friend, the late Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone.