There are two processes by USCIS that are commonly referred to as "lotteries":
Is there any indication, that these are actually lotteries, as in application chosen at random, rather than through some obscure selection process?
These are in fact random selections. DV selections of 2012 have been famously voided because it was discovered that the selection was not truly random because of a software bug.
As to H1b - these are not legally required to be random selections, but since the demand is overwhelming the quota is frequently met before the USCIS has a chance to order the submissions. Since it would not be fair to deny a petition just because the Fedex delivery man stacked down the box, when the amount of submissions exceeds all the available quotas in a very short time (I think they set it to the first business week of April), they select randomly from all the files that were submitted at that time.
What about the fact that it's called a lottery in numerous official documents? This page about the DV program from the department of Homeland Security indicates that
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Program) makes up to 50,000 immigrant visas available annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
The State department's own description includes similar language.
Of course, if you are inclined to distrust the US government, this might not fully convince you but then nothing they can say really would ;-) Otherwise all this seems like a pretty strong indication.
I do believe fermely that the DV lottery is not random, they only choose the politically minorities of each country. you can verify this your self , see what is the minorities opposing the system in your country and see how many from that region are winning the Lottery year after year.
