The secretary of state shall provide each county election officer in the state or in the election district of the state officer sought to be recalled with one copy of the statement of the grounds for recall included in the application and one copy of the statement of not more than 200 words made by the state officer sought to be recalled in justification of such state officer’s conduct in office. The state officer sought to be recalled may provide the secretary of state with such state officer’s statement within 10 days after the date the secretary of state gave notification that the petition was properly filed. Each county election officer shall maintain such statements for public inspection.