Proportional representation was regarded favorably for use in New York City elections at least 40 years before it was finally adopted. The legislative commission which drafted the so-called first charter for the city of Greater New York in 1896 expressed regret that “under the constitution of the state as it now stands, it has appeared to be impossible to provide for minority or proportional representation in the charter of Greater New York without making a vital part of the charter depend upon a provision of uncertain constitutionality.”