Error when using the "Points in Polygon" function

[Lindsey Walton]

I am getting an error when I try to use this function that says:

Error in validObject(res) : invalid class "SpatialPolygons" object: non-unique Polygons ID slot values

eval(expr, envir, enclos)

eval(expr, envir, enclos)

readWKB(Geometry, Id, proj4string = CRS("+proj=longlat +datum=WGS84"))

SpatialPolygons(obj, proj4string = proj4string)

validObject(res)

stop(paste("invalid class "", Class, "" object: ", msgs,

 

I am trying to find what section- township- range a set of wells are in based on bottom hole locations that are reported in Lat-Long coordinates.

[Tim Williams 3]

Sounds like the column you choose for the ID in your shapefile has duplicates. Like if you chose township name, probably somewhere in your data there are two townships with the same name. Often times there's a column in shapefiles called GEOID and that's usually unique, then you just have to match the GEOID to the names after you run the point in a polygon.