Activists Mark the Fifth Anniversary of Citizens United with Rallies across the Nation

The U.S. Supreme Court's controversial Citizens United decision five years ago turned our political system upside down, elevating money from corporations and the wealthiest individuals above the voices of ordinary citizens.

Those ordinary citizens marked the anniversary of the ruling with rallies, marches and movie showings across the nation.

Below: Activists in good cheer despite the snowfall as they demonstrate in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building in Washington, D.C. to mark the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United decision.

In the nation's capital, hundreds of activists ignored wet and thick welts of snow as they gathered outside of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest donor in the 2014 midterm elections, to raise awareness about the corrupting influence of big money in our politics. That election saw one of the lowest turnouts in history but the $4 billion spent broke records for non-presidential elections. And that is on top of $7 billion spent in the 2012 elections, another record. Watch the video here.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said he had been asking people around the country what they see as the most important issue facing the nation. Some said climate change. A few thought wage stagnation. Others wanted the right to organize and collectively bargain while pay equality for women stood out for still others.

"But if we cannot let our voices shine through our democratic institutions because they are taken over by these big money corporations, then none of these very important issues will be able to come through, which, in my mind, makes reclaiming democracy the issue," Ellison said.

CWA Organizing Director Sandy Rusher informed the people at the rally that ordinary citizens, CWA members, were doing their part by making calls to their members of Congress to get them to pass legislation overturning the ruling.

"We want money out, voters in!" she said as the crowd thundered with her in chants.

"Corporations, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, now are able to buy our elections and aggressively lobby Congress and drown out the voices of ordinary working people," Rusher continued. "When members of Congress spend their time talking to the wealthy elites, they push an agenda that only speaks to billionaires. Their issues are different than mine and yours. All the things that we care about – economic justice, the right to form a union and collectively bargain, which is what built the middle class in the United States – are under relentless attack."

And check out more photos here and on the CWA app.