Study notes that petition-signers are more likely to vote

I wouldn't call this study a shock -- people who sign a political petition are more likely to vote. The paper "The Impact of Petition Signing on Voter Impact" in Political Behavior notes that infrequent voters who signed a petition were as much as 20%  more likely to vote in an irregular or off-cycle election  than those who didn't sign.

The paper is by University of Arkansas Political Science Professor Janine Parry, U of Florida's Daniel Smith and Arkansas Undergrad Shayne Henry.

The paper also notes the benefits of crypto-initiatives.