Early Thursday morning, in a packed subterranean room near the Capitol, newly elected members of Congress took turns approaching a wooden box and drawing lots to claim their spots in a storied pecking order.

No, this was not the process to determine what committee seats they would claim in the next Congress or when it would be their first chance to speak on the House floor.

It was the biennial congressional office draw, the longstanding ritual that governs the all-important granting of office space on Capitol Hill to soon-to-be-freshman lawmakers. Kind of like a freshman room draw, but for Congress.

Some participants strutted to the table and made a show of cracking their knuckles or closing their eyes for luck as they bent to pull their lottery number.

Representative-elect Sam Liccardo, Democrat of California, did a jellyfish-like wave with his arms before reaching into the box and pulling out No. 47. (Representative-elect George Whitesides, Democrat of California, noted to himself and those around him, “Don’t do the wave.”)

Others carried good luck charms. Representative-elect April McClain Delaney, Democrat of Maryland, brought an ultrasound scan of what will soon be her first grandchild. She ended up drawing No. 42.