[normalmutant]

[quote=ssi;1038290For example, the first pick team in Delaware already had an invitation.[/QUOTE]
I don't know if that's right. Delaware was one of the very first state competitions in our region.

I'm pretty sure that if there are extra spots, the lottery is run by the state, not by FIRST headquarters. The amount of spots, I'm fairly certain, are given beforehand.
NJ had a large amount of teams this year, so to give an accurate representation, and not give an advantage to teams in other states, we got an extra spot, which was given by lottery to the Winning alliance partner and Think award winner, 4031. Different awards give you a certain amount of ballots in the lottery, and that team had a large amount, so they got it.