What's with the Nails?

Even with a big red nail in his chest, he's smiling!

    If you drive around Bali right now, you would be astonished at the amount of posters, billboards, etc with pictures of guys in ties and/or ceremonial clothes.  Most of these pictures feature a huge nail piercing the heart/chest area of the person in the poster.

   This is not some voodoo weirdness...  It's time for regional and congressional elections throughout Indonesia, and these posters help people to 'visualize' who they are going to choose for the upcoming elections. 

   Most of the posters have somewhere on them some writing like "Coblos Fotonya".  Which basically means, "Just poke a hole on his photo!".  Recognizing a candidates picture is pretty important, because most people will be handed a voter card with potentially hundreds of choices of names and photos.  It's quite complex and they simply have to poke a hole in the person they choose. 

   This Celebration of Democracy happens on April 9th, 2014.  It is actually a national holiday and many people get the day off of work to make sure that they can vote.  After the congressional elections are complete, there will be the election for the office of President in July 2014.