Is Uthman ibn Affan superior to Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with them both, and what is the evidence for that from the Sunnah, given that there are no explicit prophetic hadiths preferring Uthman over Ali, unlike what has been reported regarding the preference of Abu Bakr and Umar?

The Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah (Sunnis) agree that the best of the Ummah after the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, are Abu Bakr, then Umar. They differed concerning Uthman and Ali, as to which of them was superior, with most of them preferring Uthman and giving him precedence over Ali. They based this on the hadith of Ibn Umar and on the voting by the Muslims for Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, who consulted the Companions, the Tabi'in, the various regions, and the Mothers of the Believers, and found that they would not deviate from Uthman. This was their consensus on giving precedence to Uthman over Ali. The matter has settled among the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah on giving precedence to Uthman, then Ali. In this matter, one who disagrees is not considered an innovator (mubtadi') unless he denies the caliphate of Uthman.