When a date for a special election is set, the secretary of the irrigation district shall serve a notice of the date of the election to the director whose recall is demanded and the person demanding recall. Such notice may be made only in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested. After having been served a notice of the date of the election and the ballot synopsis, the director whose recall is demanded may submit to the secretary of the irrigation district a response, not to exceed two hundred (200) words in length, to the charge contained in the ballot synopsis. Such response shall be submitted by the seventh consecutive day after service of the notice. The secretary of the irrigation district shall promptly send a copy of the response to the person who filed the petition.