Keep it simple by voting down instant runoffs

November’s elections produced one clear majority: Voters fed up with political campaigns.

So an alternative that promises positive electioneering and a clear mandate from the people seems attractive. But ranked choice or instant runoff voting, on the April 5 Fort Collins ballot, is not the answer.

The underlying premise is that any election should produce a winner with 51 percent of the vote. Nations around the world operating under the parliamentary system, which requires collaboration among minority parties, would disagree, as would we.

Changing the way votes are counted on the local level will do nothing to lower the level of vitriol in…