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WGU D267 Task 2 Guide and Example: People and Policies in the History of Voting Rights
By Dan Palmer, MBA · Academic strategy consultant for working adult learners · LinkedIn
D267 Task 2 moves from slavery to the vote. You trace how voting rights expanded in the United States through three lenses: one person who fought for the vote, one constitutional amendment that extended it, and the federal law that finally enforced it. The directions name all three: an individual from the “Individuals Active in Voting Rights” list, the 15th or 19th Amendment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).
The research isn’t the hard part for working learners. The traps are in the wording: A2 asks for a change before 1925, B2 asks for one specific policy or practice, and C2 asks how the VRA addressed failures of both the 15th and 19th Amendments, whichever amendment you chose in Part B. This guide explains each prompt, how to pick an individual you can actually document, and where students lose points. It ends with an example that uses a different person, amendment, and law, so it shows the method without answering the task.
D267 Task 2 (QSM3)
Introduction
One of the most important rights held by U.S. citizens is that of the franchise—the right to vote. This fundamental right was not originally extended to a vast majority of the U.S. population. Expanding voting rights is a near-constant theme in U.S. history.
In this assessment, you will examine the people and policies that shaped the history of voting in the United States. You will examine the purpose and consequences of the 15th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).
A. Select one individual from the attached “Individuals Active in Voting Rights” document. Explain how the selected individual affected the expansion of voting rights in the United States by doing the following:
- Describe one specific example of how the selected individual from part A demonstrated their position on the expansion of voting rights.
- Explain how the selected individual in part A contributed to specific changes in voting rights before 1925. Provide one specific example.
B. Select one of the following U.S. constitutional amendments, 15th or 19th Amendment, and analyze the impact of voting policy on society by doing the following:
- Explain the intended outcome(s) of the selected amendment.
- Discuss one specific policy created or practice used to undermine the intended outcome(s) of the amendment.
C. Analyze the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) by doing the following:
- Explain the specific intended outcome(s) of the VRA.
- Discuss how the VRA addressed the systemic failures of guaranteeing rights enshrined in the 15th and 19th Amendments.
D. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
E. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
What D267 Task 2 Asks You to Do
The directions label this assessment D267 Task 2 (QSM3).
| Prompt | What you deliver |
|---|---|
| A1 | One specific example of how your chosen individual demonstrated their position on expanding voting rights |
| A2 | How the individual contributed to specific changes in voting rights before 1925, with one specific example |
| B1 | The intended outcome(s) of the 15th or 19th Amendment |
| B2 | One specific policy or practice used to undermine the amendment’s intended outcome(s) |
| C1 | The specific intended outcome(s) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 |
| C2 | How the VRA addressed the systemic failures of guaranteeing the rights in the 15th and 19th Amendments |
| D | In-text citations and references |
| E | Professional communication |
Part A: Choosing Your Individual
The list has nine people: Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Henry McNeil Turner, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Mary Church Terrell, Samuel T. Brown, and Susan B. Anthony.
The 1925 cutoff in A2 is the deciding factor. Before you commit, check that you can find, in a credible source:
- A specific action that shows the person’s position on voting rights, with a date and place (A1). Think of a speech, a protest, an arrest, an article, a march, or a founding role in an organization.
- A specific change in voting rights before 1925 that the person contributed to, and how they contributed (A2). The change can be a federal amendment, a state law, or a partial right such as municipal or school suffrage, as long as it happened before 1925.
A famous name doesn’t guarantee an easy A2. Some people on the list are better documented for their advocacy than for a specific change they helped bring about, so do ten minutes of searching on two or three names before choosing.
A1 versus A2
These two prompts are easy to blur together:
- A1 is about position. Show the person acting on their belief: what they did, when, and where.
- A2 is about results. Name a change in voting rights, give its date, and explain the person’s part in it. Be honest about their role. “Contributed to” is accurate for most individuals, since amendments and laws involve many people.
Part B: The 15th or 19th Amendment
Choose one. Both are short, so read the full text in the National Archives transcription before writing.
| 15th Amendment (1870) | 19th Amendment (1920) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it says | The right to vote can’t be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude | The right to vote can’t be denied or abridged on account of sex |
| What to explain in B1 | Who it was meant to protect, and what it was intended to achieve after the Civil War | Who it was meant to protect, and what it was intended to achieve after decades of suffrage campaigns |
B2: One specific policy or practice
B2 asks for one policy or practice, and the word “specific” matters. Name it, say where and when it was used, and explain how it kept people from voting despite the amendment. Policies historians commonly discuss include poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, white primaries, and registration rules applied unequally. For the 19th Amendment, consider who still couldn’t vote after 1920 and why.
Vague: “States made it hard for people to vote.”
Specific: Name the practice, the state or region, the years it was in force, and the mechanism: who it excluded and how officials applied it.
Part C: The Voting Rights Act of 1965
C1: Intended outcomes
Explain what the VRA was designed to do. The Department of Justice describes it as a response to “nearly a century of systematic resistance to the Fifteenth Amendment” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017). Its key provisions include a nationwide prohibition on denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color (Section 2), special provisions for covered jurisdictions, federal review of voting changes in those jurisdictions before they took effect (Section 5), and federal examiners who could register voters in designated counties.
C2: Addressing the failures of both amendments
C2 asks how the VRA addressed the systemic failures of guaranteeing the rights in the 15th and 19th Amendments. Even if you analyzed only one amendment in Part B, cover both here. The strongest answers connect specific VRA provisions to specific failures: for example, explain which provision responded to the kind of practice you described in B2, and how the VRA’s protections reached women, including Black women, whom the 19th Amendment had not protected in practice.
Sources and Citations
Use credible sources: the National Archives for amendment text, the Department of Justice for the VRA, and the National Park Service, the Library of Congress, or scholarly histories for your individual. Cite every quotation and paraphrase in APA format, including dates for laws and court cases.
WGU D267 Task 2 Example
Our D267 Task 2 example is a complete APA 7 paper by a fictitious student, built to show the structure without answering the task. It uses:
- Part A: Lucy Stone, a suffragist who is not on the WGU list
- Part B: the 26th Amendment, in place of the 15th or 19th
- Part C: the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, in place of the VRA
All facts in it come from real sources: the National Park Service, the National Archives, the Department of Justice, and the Supreme Court record in Symm v. United States (1979). It shows:
- An A1 example with a date and a clear link to the person’s position
- An A2 change before 1925, with an honest account of the individual’s role
- A B2 practice described with the place, the mechanism, and the court ruling against it
- C1 and C2 sections tied to specific provisions of the law
- Comments explaining what your own paper must use in each part
Here’s part of its A1 section:
Lucy Stone demonstrated her position that women deserved the vote through a direct protest in 1858. She refused to pay the property taxes on her home, arguing that she should not be taxed by a government in which she had no vote.
If you’re looking for task 2 examples written on the list, check what they’re built on. This one is designed so it can’t be submitted for D267 Task 2 WGU requirements, because none of its three subjects are the ones the task requires.
Download the D267 Task 2 example (.docx)
Why Posted Answers Don’t Help
Searches for a D267 Task 1 PDF or D267 Task 3 answers turn up papers that other students posted, and D267 Task 2 papers are no different. Every student chooses from the same nine individuals and the same two amendments, and everyone analyzes the VRA, so posted papers repeat the same examples in similar words. That’s the overlap WGU’s similarity checker is built to detect. A specific example you found and cited yourself is safer and usually stronger.
Plan It Around Your Work Week
- Evening one (about 1.5 hours): Spend ten minutes each researching two or three individuals, choose one, and write A1 and A2.
- Evening two (about 1.5 hours): Read your amendment’s text, research one undermining practice, and write B1 and B2.
- Evening three (about 1.5 hours): Research the VRA’s provisions, write C1 and C2, check every citation, run Grammarly, and review the similarity report.
Common Reasons D267 Task 2 Comes Back
- A1 describes the person’s beliefs without a specific action
- A2’s change happened after 1925, or the person’s contribution isn’t explained
- B2 lists several practices without explaining one in depth
- B2 names a practice without saying how it undermined the amendment
- C1 is general (“it protected voting”) rather than tied to provisions
- C2 addresses only the amendment chosen in Part B
- Dates for laws and court cases are missing or wrong
Pre-Submission Checklist
- The individual is from the Individuals Active in Voting Rights list
- A1 has one dated, specific action
- A2 has a specific change before 1925 and the person’s role in it
- B1 explains the intended outcome of the 15th or 19th Amendment
- B2 explains one specific undermining policy or practice
- C1 ties the VRA’s intended outcomes to its provisions
- C2 covers how the VRA addressed failures of both amendments
- Every fact, date, and quotation is cited
Related WGU Guides
- Start with our D267 Task 1 guide on analyzing primary and secondary sources about slavery.
- Our WGU D268 course guide and D268 Task 3 guide cover presenting evidence clearly.
- Our D253 Task 2 guide and WGU C717 Task 2 guide cover values, bias, and ethical reasoning.
- For tasks built on evaluating evidence, see our D472 Task 1 guide, D473 Task 1 guide, and D428 design thinking guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is WGU D267 Task 2?
It’s the QSM3 Task 2 performance assessment for WGU D267. You explain how one individual from the course list affected voting rights, analyze the 15th or 19th Amendment, and analyze the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Which individual is easiest to write about?
The one you can document best, with a specific action for A1 and a specific change before 1925 for A2. Research two or three names briefly before you choose.
Do I have to write about both amendments?
Choose one for Part B. In C2, explain how the VRA addressed the failures of both the 15th and 19th Amendments.
Does the A2 change have to be a federal law?
No. The directions ask for specific changes in voting rights before 1925. A state law or a partial right can work if you explain the individual’s contribution.
Can I submit the D267 Task 2 example on this page?
No. It uses a person, an amendment, and a law that the task doesn’t allow, and a fictitious student. It’s for illustration only.
Want a Second Look Before You Submit?
If you’re working full time and want structured assignment support choosing an individual with a strong example from before 1925, sharpening your B2 practice, or checking that C2 covers both amendments, message Gradevia on WhatsApp at +1 564 544 6924 or email Support@gradevia.com.
Sources
National Archives. (n.d.). The Constitution: Amendments 11–27. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27
U.S. Department of Justice. (2017, July 28). History of federal voting rights laws. https://www.justice.gov/crt/history-federal-voting-rights-laws